"Millennium Ecosystem Assessment"

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department of the study, "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment", published by the United Nations and the World Bank on 30 March; what plans he has to liaise with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the impact of the report on the implementation of climate change and sustainable development strategies; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development (DFID) welcomes the launch of "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment" (MA). The report provides a useful and comprehensive overview of recent trends in ecosystem function. The detailed findings of the MA will further strengthen the evidence base for addressing the linkages between poverty and environment. This includes specific consideration of the role of ecosystems in supporting the livelihoods of the poor and the implications of changes in ecosystem function for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
	DFID officials have reviewed the main findings of the MA Synthesis Report. They welcome the MA's detailed overview of the status of ecosystems and the consideration of change under different scenarios. DFID's interests primarily relate to policies and actions that respond to environmental challenges while bringing financial and livelihood benefits to the poor. The MA responses of particular interest to DFID include those on: strengthening the integration of environmental considerations in development co-operation; developing markets and economic based incentives for more sustainable ecosystem use; and the research and application of appropriate technologies. This will support development and improvement of tools to better integrate environmental considerations into development co-operation. DFID is already active in many of these areas, for example in taking forward our commitments to support developing countries to integrate environmental considerations into Poverty Reduction Strategies; and work on payment for ecosystem services.
	DFID will encourage the agencies involved in commissioning the report, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Secretariats of the Conventions (in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change), to use the MA's analyses and results to inform their policy and implementation work.
	DFID maintains strong working relationships with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, especially in the areas of climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development. DFID officials will continue to work closely with DEFRA on these issues, taking account of the relevant findings of the MA.

Film Piracy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to tackle film piracy.

Estelle Morris: Together with Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), I chair the Creative Industries Forum on Intellectual Property. The forum has been exploring the issue of piracy as it affects all the creative industries. The forum's members include Government Departments and representatives from the creative industries sectors, including the UK Film Council, the Government's strategic agency for film. The threat of piracy to the film industry was outlined in the UK Film Council's report "Film Theft in the UK", published in December 2004 and these findings have been fed into the work of the forum.
	We expect the forum to make final recommendations later this year. The Government will consider these and make a detailed response in due course.

Antisocial Behaviour

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how long it took for a case for a breach of an antisocial behaviour order to appear before the courts in the last period for which figures are available; what the sentencing guidelines are in such cases; and what sentences have been imposed by the courts for breaches of such orders.

David Lammy: Data is not collected on the time it takes for breach of an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) to be brought before the court.
	Breach of an ASBO carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and/or a maximum £5,000 fine in the magistrates courts and a maximum five years imprisonment and/or a fine in the Crown court. The maximum sentence the Youth Court can impose is a 2-year detention and training order. Guidance on how to deal with a breach is set out in the "Magistrates' Courts Sentencing Guidelines" produced by the Magistrates' Association. These give a starting point guideline of custody based on a first time adult offender pleading not guilty. They also list examples of possible aggravating factors. When dealing with a child or young person, the court is required to have regard to his or her welfare.
	Data on the sentences imposed by the courts for breach of ASBO is available for the period June 2000 to December 2003. It shows that 55 per cent. of defendants who breached their ASBO received a custodial sentence, 27 per cent. received a community penalty, 9 per cent. received a fine, 3 per cent. received a discharge and 6 per cent. received some other sentence.

Civilian Trials (Armed Forces)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Solicitor-General if the Attorney-General will review the application of the double jeopardy rule as it relates to soldiers going to trial in the civilian courts having lost the opportunity of a court martial on the grounds that the commanding officer found there was no case to answer.

Harriet Harman: The double jeopardy rule applies to soldiers in the same way as it does to defendants in the civilian courts. The Attorney-General will not review the application of the double jeopardy rule as it relates to soldiers going to trial in the civilian courts.
	For the doctrine of autrefois convict/acquit to apply the defendant must stand for a second time "in jeopardy". "Jeopardy" means a real risk or danger of punishment following conviction. In cases transferred to the civilian system from the military the doctrine of autrefois convict/acquit will apply as in any other case.

Lenient Sentences

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General, how many unduly lenient sentences for crimes committed by serving police officers have been referred to the Court of Appeal in (a) England, (b) Essex and (c) Southend in each of the last five years; and how many appeals have been upheld in each of those years.

Harriet Harman: Records are kept by the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers on the cases referred to Law Officers by prosecution agencies and those brought to the attention of Law Officers by direct correspondence. Records kept in the present form commenced in 2002.
	Records are not organised by offenders' employment. Therefore, it is not possible to identify with certainty the number of references for the period when records commenced involving serving police officers.
	Some data has been obtained by searching for references which contain the words "serving police officer". The following data was obtained:
	2002—One case referred to the Court of Appeal which concerned a retired Metropolitan police officer. The sentence was unchanged.
	2003—One case referred to the Court of Appeal which concerned a Kent police officer. The sentence was increased.
	2004—Two cases were received by the Law Officers which involved police officers. The first concerned a retired Yorkshire constabulary officer. This was referred to the Court of Appeal which concluded the sentence was not unduly lenient. The second concerned a retired Metropolitan police officer. This was not referred to the Court of Appeal.
	2005—One case has been received by the Law Officers which involved two serving police officers from the Surrey Constabulary. It was not referred to the Court of Appeal.

Rape/Sexual Assault

Vera Baird: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans she has to ask the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate further to investigate the way in which rape is prosecuted in England and Wales.

Harriet Harman: The Criminal Justice Chief Inspectors' Group intend to include a follow-up to the joint inspection of "Investigation and Prosecution of Cases Involving Allegations of Rape" (the report of which was published by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in April 2002) in its programme for 2005–06. Details of the programme have not been finalised, it is likely to be in the second half of the year.

Energy Consumption

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the private finance initiative contracts which (a) her Department and (b) local education authorities advertised in 2004, indicating in each case whether the output specification included (a) clauses specifically relating to energy consumption and energy efficiency, (b) a requirement for relevant equipment being purchased to be on the Government's energy technology list, (c) a requirement to use whole life costing to assess energy costs for any new building or major refurbishments and (d) a requirement that new buildings or major refurbishments would be constructed to a specific energy standard; and what standard was specified in each case.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 15 March 2005
	The Department for Education and Skills itself is not a party to any private finance initiative (PFI) contracts and therefore does not advertise such contracts. PFI projects for the provision of schools are delivered through contracts between local authorities and private sector contractors and these contracts are advertised in the "Official Journal of the European Union".
	The Department does not hold details of the exact energy requirements in the output specification linked to each contract. However, the Department's policy is to support the efficient use of energy in schools buildings and it expects schools PFI projects to follow departmental guidance on energy efficiency. Most output specifications quote the Department's own standard (Building Bulletin 87 "Guidelines for Environmental Design in Schools", 2nd Edition Version 1 (May 2003), which is downloadable from www.teach ernet.gov.uk/energy.) This standard complies with Part L2 ("Conservation of Fuel and Power") of the Building Regulations.
	There are a total of 109 schools PFI projects either signed or in negotiation in 88 different local authorities. Details of these projects and the local authorities involved can be found at www.teachernet.gov.uk/pfi.

FE Colleges

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what instructions or guidelines are issued to Ofsted inspectors regarding the assessment of learning resources services in further education colleges.

Ivan Lewis: The current common inspection framework for post-16 providers, which sets out the principles applicable to the inspections of further education colleges, states that inspectors should evaluate the adequacy, suitability and use of specialist equipment, learning resources and accommodation. In making these judgements, inspectors should consider the extent to which, among other things, learners have access to learning resources that are appropriate for effective independent study, resources are used to best effect in promoting learning, and the extent to which learning resources and accommodation allow all learners to participate fully. Fuller details are set out in the "Handbook for Inspecting Colleges", which is produced and disseminated by Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate.

Migrant Intakes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional support her Department provides to schools with a recent large migrant intake.

Margaret Hodge: Local education authorities receive funding for all pupils on the school roll in their area through the Education Formula Spending Share. The formula also takes account of the number of pupils with English as an additional language. In 2004–05 the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant, a matched funded grant which is part of the Standards Fund, has provided a total of £162 million of ring-fenced funding to schools, aimed at raising the attainment of under-achieving minority ethnic pupils and those whose first language is other than English. For 2005–06, this total will be £168.6 million.
	In addition, in 2003 my Department conducted the "Aiming High: Raising the Achievement of Minority Ethnic Pupils" consultation. This has been followed by a wide range of initiatives aimed at addressing the specific needs of certain groups of pupils, including those whose first language is other than English. Part of this initiative is the Primary National Strategy English as an Additional Language (EAL) Pilot which involves the provision of EAL consultants in 21 local education authority areas, each working with 10 schools. The role of these consultants is to develop an intensive professional development programme for mainstream school staff. This will enable the development of improved skills and confidence among mainstream teachers and allow for the production of teaching and learning materials and the dissemination of good practice.
	My Department has also worked with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and Ofsted to promote a common national approach to assessment of the acquisition of English language fluency based on the National Curriculum in English levels. This approach states that particular care needs to be taken to assess the needs of newly arrived pupils and the importance of using pupils' first languages as part of the assessment process. Finally, my Department provided funding to the QCA to develop guidance to help teachers respond to the needs of newly arrived pupils. This guidance "Pathways to Learning for New Arrivals" was launched in December 2004 and provides all school staff with access to information on all aspects of integrating newly arrived pupils, including good practice case studies, to ensure that these pupils get full access to the National Curriculum. This guidance can be found on the QCA website—www.qca.org.uk

Pre-school Education

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many free (a) nursery and (b) pre-school places were available for (i) three and (ii) four-year-olds in Crosby in each of the last seven years.

Margaret Hodge: All four-year-olds in England have been entitled to a free part-time early education place since September 1998. All three-year-olds in England have been entitled to a free part-time early education place since April 2004.
	The available information on the numbers of free part-time early education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Sefton Local Education Authority area and parliamentary constituencies within Sefton local education authority area since 1998 is shown in the tables.
	The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 39/2004 "Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2004 (final)", which is available on the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.
	
		Number of free nursery education places(1) taken up by three and four-year-olds—Sefton Local Education Authority area: Position in January each year
		
			  3-year-olds 4-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(2) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools(3) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 4-year-olds 
		
		
			 1998 2,000 n/a 2,000 n/a n/a (4)3.300 
			 1999 2,100 n/a 2,100 n/a n/a (4)3,200 
			 2000 2,100 (5)290 2,400 n/a n/a (4)3,100 
			 2001 2,100 (5)780 2,900 n/a n/a (4)3,200 
			 2002 1,800 (5)940 2,800 2,900 (4)350 3,200 
			 2003 1,700 (5)970 2,700 2,700 (6)390 3,100 
			 2004 1,800 (7)970 2,700 2,500 (8)400 2,900 
		
	
	(1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(2) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(3) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(4) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(5) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(6) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(7) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(8) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	
		Number of free nursery education places(9) taken up by three and four-year-olds by parliamentary constituency—Sefton Local Education Authority: Position in January 2004
		
			  3-year-olds 4-year-olds 
			 Parliamentary constituency Maintained nursery and primary schools2 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers3 Total 3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools4 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers5 Total 4-year-olds 
		
		
			 Crosby 250 310 560 570 150 720 
			 Sefton LEA total 1,800 970 2,700 2,500 400 2,900 
		
	
	(9) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(10) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(11) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(12) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(13) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	Changes in pupil figures may arise from changes to the underlying population in the local education authority area and other factors. However, my Department doesn't publish population figures for individual age cohorts at sub-national level because of the unreliability of the underlying population estimates. The Office for National Statistics publish sub-national population estimates in five-year age bands.

Woodcraft Folk

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much financial assistance her Department provided to the Woodcraft Folk in each of the last 10 financial years for which figures are available; if she will make in 2005–06 a grant to the Woodcraft Folk equivalent to that made in 2004–05; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The Woodcraft Folk have received the following funding since 1997, the earliest date for which figures are available:
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 39,100 
			 1998–99 33,000 
			 1999–2000 38,000 
			 2000–01 38,000 
			 2001–02 38,000 
			 2002–03 52,281 
			 2003–04 52,281 
			 2004–05 52,281 
			 Total 342,943 
		
	
	Source:
	NVYO Grant Scheme
	The Woodcraft Folk submitted a bid for funding under the National Voluntary Youth Organisation Grant scheme due to run from 2005 to 2008. This scheme was run as an open competition. Participation on previous schemes was not one of the criteria used to determine funding. The bid was assessed against criteria made explicit in both the application and guidance notes for the scheme.
	The key reasons the Woodcraft Folk's bid was unsuccessful was that, in comparison with other bids, it did not provide the level of detail to enable the Department to determine either how the proposed activities would deliver the outcomes specified or how the outcomes specifically linked with the "Every Child Matters" agenda.
	It is important to emphasise that even though the Woodcraft Folk's bid for funding under the National Voluntary Youth Organisation grant scheme was unsuccessful, this is no reflection on the work it does to promote the well-being of children and young people and their participation in society.
	The scheme was open to all national voluntary sector organisations engaged in youth work and who met specific criteria and not just those on the existing scheme. We received 160 bids from a variety of national voluntary organisations which totalled over £44 million for the length of the scheme. As the grant scheme was allocated £21 million over three years we were unable to fund everyone who applied. We assessed all of the bids and awarded grants to those organisations which clearly demonstrated the outcomes and quality the scheme required to an agreed standard.
	I met the Woodcraft Folk on the 4 April to discuss their work. As a result of that meeting we agreed to second a member of DfES staff to the Woodcraft Folk for 12 months. We hope that that member of staff will be able to support the central organisation by helping it to look for new ways of diversifying the funding streams that it receives so that it secures long-term funding.

Woodcraft Folk

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons the Department rejected the grant application from the Woodcraft Folk.

Margaret Hodge: The criteria by which all decisions about funding under the National Voluntary Youth Organisation (NVYO) grant scheme were made were explicit in both the application forms and guidance notes, to assist organisations through the application process.
	The guidance notes clearly stated that applications should make a strong contribution to the achievement of the outcomes for young people set out in "Every Child Matters".
	Paragraph 13.2 of the application guidance states clearly that the Department would look for bids that:
	were clearly focused on the outcomes identified in the guidance
	were for activities in line with those identified in the grant criteria
	identified clear and robust outcome indicators that were relevant to the outcomes the bid proposes to deliver
	clearly explained the national significance of the activity being proposed
	were realistic and deliverable
	The Woodcraft Folk's bid for funding was unsuccessful because, when compared with other applications, it did not provide the level of detail to enable the Department to determine how the proposed activities would deliver the outcomes that were specified in the criteria. It was also not sufficiently clear, in comparison with other bids, how Woodcraft Folk's outcomes specifically linked with the "Every Child Matters" agenda.
	It is important to emphasise that even though the Woodcraft Folk's bid for funding under the National Voluntary Youth Organisation grant scheme was unsuccessful, this is no reflection on the work it does to promote the well-being of children and young people and their participation in society.
	The scheme was open to all national voluntary sector organisations engaged in youth work and who met specific criteria and not just those on the existing scheme. We received 160 bids from a variety of national voluntary organisations which totalled over £44 million for the length of the scheme. As the grant scheme had been allocated £21 million for the three years we were unable to fund everyone who applied. We assessed all of the bids and awarded grants to those organisations which clearly demonstrated the outcomes and quality the scheme required to an agreed standard.
	I met the Woodcraft Folk on the 4 April to discuss their work. As a result of that meeting we agreed to second a member of DfES staff to the Woodcraft Folk for 12 months. We hope that that member of staff will be able to support the central organisation by helping it to look for new ways of diversifying the funding streams that it receives so that it secures long-term funding.

Fire Control

Mark Todd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish the risk assessment conducted on the proposal to regionalise emergency fire control; and what steps he is taking to ensure that those engaged in providing services (a) contribute to the design of new systems and (b) maintain services during transition.

Nick Raynsford: The Mott MacDonald report "The Future of Fire Service Control Rooms and Communications in England and Wales" which was published in 2000 with an update in 2003, undertook a cost/benefit risk analysis of the options for the provision of fire and rescue service control rooms and communications. The original report is available at:
	http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm fire/documen ts/page/odpm fire 601055.pdf
	The 2003 update is available at:
	http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm fire/documen ts/page/odpm fire 026180.pdf
	There are a number of control room and other fire and rescue service personnel seconded to the national project team, and a member of the Chief Fire Officers' Association is employed to work on the project full time. These have had, and will continue to have, significant input into the design of the accommodation, the specification for the control room systems and the development of processes and staffing models. We also have a wide programme of engagement with members of the service through regular national seminars, control staff workshops and other workstream-focussed working groups, which brings significant expertise to the project and ensures that the service has a voice to influence and guide progress.
	Maintenance of adequate staffing levels in control rooms during the transition period is the responsibility of individual fire and rescue authorities. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has provided guidance to authorities on methods of retention.

Alvis plc

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action is being taken to prosecute Alvis plc. for the £16.5 million payment made to Siti Hardiyanti ("Futut") Rukmana in order to secure the contract from the Indonesian Government to supply Scorpion armoured fighting vehicles; and if she will make a full statement.

Douglas Alexander: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

Energy Policy/Research

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Government's hydrogen energy strategy will be published.

Mike O'Brien: Last year the DTI commissioned a study to develop a strategic framework for hydrogen energy activities in the UK. This was undertaken by E4tech, Element Energy and Eoin Lees Energy and was completed in December. A report of their analysis has been placed on the DTIs publications website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sepn/hydrogen framework full.pdf from which it can be downloaded. We will be considering the specific recommendations carefully, and will publish these, together with our response shortly.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the State for Trade and Industry how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions is the body through which the European Commission carries out its duty to consult member states on decisions under, and amendments to, EC competition law which it proposes to adopt.
	Between 1 July 2003 and 31 December 2004, the Advisory Committee met 32 times in Brussels to discuss proposed Commission antitrust decisions: in all, 29 draft decisions were discussed. The Office of Fair Trading represented the UK at all meetings, usually accompanied by a representative of a UK sectoral regulator if there was a sectoral interest. The decisions discussed included one against Microsoft for abuse of its dominant position and 12 cartel cases, including those involving copper plumbing tubes, sorbate food preservatives and carbon and graphite products.

European Development Money

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library a list of UK recipients of European Development Money funds since 1997, indicating in each case what (a) sums were received and (b) projects were supported.

Douglas Alexander: European money in respect of economic development is provided to UK recipients under European Structural Fund programmes which are supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and two smaller funds for agriculture (EAGGF) and fisheries (FIFG).
	The programmes are all multi-annual and some are multi-fund, and individual programmes are identified by objective. The table sets out allocations by region and objective for the last three years of the 1994–99 programming period and the first five years of the 2000–06 period.
	There are many thousands of individual projects supported by the funds, and details of expenditure on individual schemes could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		£ million
		
			   Allocation 
			 Region Objective 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 North West 1 87 108 117 113 116 118 120 126 
			  2 88 100 103 83 80 77 73 76 
			   
			 South West 1 — — — 42 43 44 45 48 
			  2 8 9 18 23 17 17 — — 
			  5b* 36 28 29 — — — — — 
			   
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1 — — — 100 102 104 106 111 
			  2 73 85 87 49 48 48 47 50 
			   
			 East Midlands 2 23 23 24 36 35 35 34 33 
			  5b* 9 9 9 — — — — — 
			   
			 West Midlands 2 15 102 106 84 82 80 77 82 
			  5b* 6 5 5 — — — — — 
			   
			 East of England 2 — — — 15 15 15 14 16 
			  5b* 7 8 8 — — — — —  
			 North East 2 81 82 85 64 65 65 65 71 
			   
			 London 2 21 23 24 23 23 23 23 27 
			   
			 South East 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 
			   
			 Northern Uplands 5b* 16 14 14 — — — — — 
			   
			 Highlands and Islands 1 34 41 44 — — — — — 
			  1 Transitional — — — 54 46 38 29 32 
			   
			 Eastern Scotland 2 27 31 32 29 27 25 23 20 
			   
			 Western Scotland 2 61 71 73 52 49 47 44 40 
			   
			 South of Scotland 2 — — — 6 7 7 7 7 
			   
			 Borders 5b* 4 4 4 — — — — — 
			   
			 Dumfries and Galloway 5b* 5 6 6 — — — — — 
			   
			 Stirling and Upper Tayside 5b* 3 3 3 — — — — — 
			   
			 Grampian 5b* 4 5 5 — — — — — 
			   
			 Northern Ireland 1 171 163 176 — — — — — 
			  1 Transitional — — — 156 132 108 100 94 
			   
			 West Wales and the Valleys 1 — — — 157 161 164 167 182 
			   
			 East Wales 2 — — — 14 13 12 12 11 
			   
			 Industrial South Wales 2 54 49 51 — — — — — 
			   
			 Rural Wales 5b* 20 24 24 — — — — — 
			   
			 Gibraltar 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			   
			 Great Britain 3 311 315 517 — — — — — 
			  4 — 28 137 — — — — — 
			   
			 England and Gibraltar 3 — — — 349 357 364 388 391 
			   
			 Scotland 3 — — — 42 43 44 45 47 
			   
			 Wales 3 — — — 10 11 11 11 12

Inspection and Enforcement Costs

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the annual cost of inspection and enforcement activities carried out by (a) her Department and (b) regulatory bodies and agencies sponsored by her Department was in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) 2003–04.

Douglas Alexander: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Gentleman in the time available before Prorogation.

Photovoltaic Cells/Energy

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons the Government plans to phase out grant support for photovoltaic energy systems; and what further plans the Government have to (a) promote and (b) support PV development.

Mike O'Brien: The Government have no plans to phase out support for photovoltaics. The current capital grant programme, the major PV demonstration programme, is due to end in March 2006 and the Department will continue its support for PV through a "low carbon buildings" programme.
	The Renewable Innovation Review February 2004, recommended this more holistic approach to energy use in buildings incorporating both energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The low carbon buildings programme is currently under development and there will be formal consultation on this later this year. The programme is expected to begin operating in 2006–07.

Solar Photovoltaics

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 8 March 2005, Official Report, column 1713W, on solar photovoltaics, how many projects were included in the 2004 Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme; and what plans she has (a) to promote and (b) to extend the programme.

Mike O'Brien: Unfortunately due to a double counting error the figure given in reply to PQ No 220204 was incorrect.
	The number of installations in calendar year 2004 is as follows:
	
		
			  Projects kWp installed 
		
		
			 For Stream 1 236 513.936 
			 For Stream 2 39 883.877 
			 Total installed  1,397 
		
	
	The current capital grants programme is due to end in March 2006 and the Department will continue its support for PV through a "low carbon buildings" programme. The renewable innovation review, February 2004, recommended this more holistic approach to energy use in buildings incorporating both energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The low carbon buildings programme is currently under development and there will be formal consultation shortly. The programme is expected to begin operating in 2006–07.

Special Representative for International Trade and Investment

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the appointment process was for the Special Representative for International Trade and Investment; and what the (a) role and (b) responsibilities of the Special Representative were.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 4 April 2005
	The Duke of York was appointed to the role in support of British Trade International (BTI) (which in 2003 became UK Trade and Investment), by Her Majesty The Queen, after consultation with The Cabinet Office, BTI and The Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He was given the title "UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment". His Royal Highness formally assumed this voluntary and unpaid position on 1 October 2001.
	The roles and responsibilities of the UK's Special Representative for Trade and Investment are set out in the 2004 UK Trade and Investment Departmental Report available in the Libraries of the House.

Town Centres (Businesses)

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial incentives the Government (a) have in place and (b) are planning to support (i) small and (ii) specialised businesses to remain open in town centres.

Nigel Griffiths: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

Trade Balance

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment she has made of trends in the UK's balance of trade figures.

Douglas Alexander: The latest official figures from the 2005 Budget report for the UK's total balance of trade in goods and services for 2004 show a deficit representing 3.3 per cent. of GDP. The Treasury forecasts this to fall to between 3 per cent. to 3.1 per cent. of GDP by 2007.

Burnley

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Burnley constituency, the effects on Burnley of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take you directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default.asp. In addition the Office of National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the Burnley constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office of National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits Burnley.
	Through our national strategy for waste we are committed to delivering a step change to more sustainable waste management, including tough national targets to recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04 and 25 per cent. by 2005–06. Since 2001, Defra has established a number of funding mechanisms to help local authorities achieve their targets. As a result of allocations from these funds the residents of Burnley should reap the benefits over the next few years. Since 2001 a total of £1,131,245 has been awarded to the borough to expand kerbside recycling schemes.
	In March 2005 1 announced that Lancashire has been selected as the rural pathfinder in the North West—one of eight rural pathfinders in different regions of England. The pathfinder initiative is a key part of Rural Strategy and reflects the Government's commitment to devolve decision-making and resources to the local level. The Lancashire rural pathfinder will ensure greater co-ordination of rural delivery programmes testing new and innovative methods to bring about improvements in the delivery of services to rural communities and businesses.
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the common agricultural policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm-based schemes in the Burnley constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £780,824.36.
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

CAP Payments

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will press for the introduction of a ceiling on Common Agricultural Policy payments to individuals.

Alun Michael: The Government are committed to further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy but does not intend to press for a ceiling on individual payments since this could actually slow the process of reform. Only cutting CAP payments to the EU's largest farms would penalise those which would tend to be better able to compete in a less subsidy dependent market. The measure could, therefore, have the counter-intuitive effect of disproportionately supporting those EU farm businesses most likely to resist further reform. A ceiling on CAP payments would also penalise the UK in relation to most other EU member states, as UK farms tend to be larger than the EU average.

Cattle Birth Notifications

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress officials in her Department have made since 11 December 2004 on reviewing arrangements for enforcing the deadline for birth notifications of cattle.

Ben Bradshaw: Discussions between Defra, Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly officials are continuing. Unfortunately legal issues have proved more difficult to resolve than was initially hoped. Officials are currently considering whether an administrative solution can be found. If this is not possible legislative changes will be necessary. Industry representatives continue to be involved in informal discussions.

Contaminated Land

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding her Department has allocated to the Environment Agency for the development and delivery of training to local authority staff working on land affected by contamination in each year since Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 was brought into effect; how much has been allocated to the Environment Agency for this purpose in 2005–06; what output her Department agreed with the Agency; and what has been delivered to date.

Elliot Morley: From the grant-in-aid from my Department for its activities the Environment Agency spent £150,000 and £108,000 in 2003–04 and 2004–05 respectively to develop and deliver training events with places for local authority staff, with supporting materials, in connection with Part IIA (contaminated land). Specific costs for earlier years are not readily available but are of similar order of magnitude to 2003–04. The Agency has not currently allocated any sums for such training in 2005–06.
	Training events in 2004–05 covered "Model Procedures" (Contaminated Land Report 11, published in October 2004), "Site investigation for the regulation of contaminated land" (nine events), "Part IIA Documentation" (four events), and "Evaluating Human Health Risk Assessments" (one event).

Departmental Policies

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the Coventry, South constituency, the effects in Coventry South of changes to her Department's policies since 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take you directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default. asp. In addition, the Office of National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the Coventry South constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office of National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits Coventry South.
	Through our national strategy for waste we are committed to delivering a step change to more sustainable waste management, including tough national targets to recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04 and 25 per cent. by 2005–06. Since 2001, Defra has established a number of funding mechanisms to help local authorities achieve their targets. As a result of allocations from these funds the residents of Coventry South should reap the benefits over the next few years. The main source of funding for Coventry city council's waste management services, as for all local authorities, is through the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) block of annual Government grant. It is for the local authority to decide what proportion of the block is invested in waste management, including recycling, services. Coventry city council has also been allocated the following additional funding and support:
	£1,450,000 through the National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund over the period 2002–03 to 2003–04 for kerbside collection of green waste and paper;
	£84,026 from Defra to relieve spending pressures on waste in 2004–05; and
	£240,478 through the Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant in 2005–06.
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the common agricultural policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm-based schemes in the Coventry South constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £23,147.13.
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

Departmental Policies

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as closely as possible to the constituency, the effect of her Department's actions and policies on Blackpool, South constituency since (a) 1997 and (b) 2001.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take my hon. Friend directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default.asp. In addition the Office for National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk.
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the Blackpool, South constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office for National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits Blackpool, South.
	Through our national strategy for waste we are committed to deliver a step change to more sustainable waste management, including tough national targets to recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04 and 25 per cent. by 2005–06. Defra has, since its establishment in 2001, set up a number of funding mechanisms to help local authorities achieve their targets.
	It is not possible to be specific as to how successful the Blackpool, South constituency has been in obtaining some of the available funding. However, as a result of allocations from these funds, the residents of the borough of Blackpool should, over the next few years, reap the benefits. Since 2001 a total of £1,106,836 has been awarded to the borough to expand kerbside recycling schemes.
	Defra has overall policy responsibility for flood .and coastal erosion risk in England and funds most of the activities of the Environment Agency (EA) in this area. Defra also provides grant aid on a project-by-project basis to the other flood and coastal defence operating authorities (local authorities and internal drainage boards) to support their investment in improvement works.
	Improvement projects funded by Defra, including those of the EA, must meet specified economic, technical and environmental criteria and achieve an appropriate "priority score" to be eligible for funding. Defra does not build defences, nor direct the authorities on what specific projects to carry out. The works programme to manage risk is driven by the operating authorities.
	Details of Defra grant aid paid to Blackpool borough council for coast protection works carried out under the Coast Protection Act from 1997 to date are:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997 3,246,295 
			 1998 5,333,593 
			 1999 2,693,727 
			 2000 6,320,596 
			 2001 1,295,302 
			 2002 1,850,269 
			 2003 1,128,269 
			 2004 400,873 
			 2005 670,003 
		
	
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, North and Sefton, East (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm based schemes in the Blackpool, South constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £4,426.59
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Exfensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

Departmental Policies

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 0if she will set out, with statistical information relating as closely as possible to Chorley constituency, the effect of her Department's policies and actions on Chorley constituency since 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take you directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default. asp. In addition the Office of National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the Chorley constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office of National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits Chorley.
	Through our national strategy for waste we are committed to deliver a step change to more sustainable waste management, including tough national targets to recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04 and 25 per cent. by 2005–06.
	Defra has, since its establishment in 2001, set up a number of funding mechanisms to help local authorities achieve their targets. As a result of allocations from these funds the residents of Chorley should, over the next few years, reap the benefits. Since 2001 a total of £1,016,646 has been awarded to the borough to expand kerbside recycling schemes.
	In March 2005 we announced Lancashire as one of eight rural pathfinders in England. The pathfinder initiative is a key part of the Government's Rural Strategy and reflects the Government's commitment to devolve decision-making and resources to the local level. The Lancashire rural pathfinder will ensure greater co-ordination of rural delivery programmes testing new and innovative methods to bring about improvements in the delivery of services to rural communities and businesses.
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East, (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm based schemes in the Chorley constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £1,207,777.07.
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

Departmental Policies

Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to West Dorset constituency, the effects on West Dorset of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take you directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default. asp. In addition the Office of National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the West Dorset constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office of National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits West Dorset.
	The Environment Agency has been active on the ground in West Dorset dealing with water quality problems. This work has been part of the "Cycleau Project", a European Interreg IIIB funded project that aims to:
	Find innovative ways of managing and improving the water environment.
	Share knowledge and experience of water management.
	Involve local communities in the management of local rivers.
	More details are on the website. www.cycleau.com
	In West Dorset most of the activity has been in the River Char catchment area (upstream of Charmouth). The Environment Agency is the lead partner with FWAG delivering advice and grant aid. The main concern has been to ensure that the beach at Charmouth meets its Bathing Water standards with failures in the past resulting from diffuse farm pollution. There are about 35 farms in the Char catchment and so far about 20 farmers have been involved in the project. Funding is £70,000 over three years, up to 2006
	West Dorset forms part of the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and as such is supported by Defra (through the Countryside Agency) for core funding. Core funding since 2002 has been £574,200 that is further enhanced by contributions from all the district authorities and the county council.
	Defra has supported Leader+ through the Dorset Chalk and Cheese programme, and awarded £1,217,456 EU and £591,558 Defra funding, to run a six year community based programme (2000–06), in parts of rural West Dorset.
	The Voluntary and Community Sector in Dorset has benefited from joint funding with the Home Office through the Capacity Building and Infrastructure Strategy Programme. The rural preparatory programme to June 2004 awarded £20,000 to Churches Together in Dorset (CTD), Dorset Community Action (DCA) and Dorset Race Equality Council and sought primarily to:
	Build a broader consortium of rural partners, and develop Vision" for closer collaboration in the longer term.
	Develop a "Countywide Investment Plan" for Voluntary Sector Infrastructure
	The Change Up programme that follows on from this will see Defra and the Home Office supporting a Dorset Consortia to continue with this work and West Dorset is sure to benefit.
	The England Rural Development Programme has supported a number of grants in West Dorset for Vocational Training Schemes, for example training farm staff and on organic skills. Processing and Marketing grants of £105,577 were given to support farms and food processing plants. The Rural Enterprise Scheme gave grants of £466,671 to support rural businesses including a livery stable, equatic centre and food processing plant.
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to the hon Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East, (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–1150W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity:
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm based schemes in the West Dorset constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £9,929,067.25
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

Departmental Policies

Brian Sedgemore: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to South-East Cambridgeshire constituency, the effects on South-East Cambridgeshire of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take you directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default. asp. In addition the Office of National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the South East Cambridgeshire constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office of National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits South East Cambridgeshire. Through our national strategy for waste we are committed to delivering a step change to more sustainable waste management, including tough national targets to recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04, and 25 per cent. by 2005–06. The county of Cambridgeshire continues to make a substantial contribution to achieving national recycling targets. The county's recycling performance in 2003–04, the most recent year for which data are available, was 29 per cent., against the national average for that year of 16.9 per cent.
	The Government are committed to increasing the amount of electricity supplied by renewable sources in the UK to 10 per cent. by 2010. Between 1990 and 1998, the percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources in Cambridgeshire increased from zero, or very little, to around 0.9 per cent. In the last four years, this figure has increased to around 6 per cent. This dramatic increase is mainly attributable to the opening of a straw burning power station in Sutton near Ely in late 2001.
	An area of the East of England, which covers a large part of the South East Cambridgeshire constituency, is one of the eight rural delivery pathfinders announced by the Minister of State, Alun Michael, at Ely on 14 March. The pathfinder initiative is a key part of the Government's Rural Strategy and reflects the Government's commitment to devolve decision-making and resources to the local level. The Fens rural pathfinder will ensure greater co-ordination of rural delivery programmes by testing new and innovative methods to bring about improvements in the delivery of services to rural communities and businesses. Partners in pathfinder areas are currently worked on their detailed proposals of actions they will undertake, but a summary can be obtained via the following web address: www. idea-knowledge, gov.uk/idk/core/page. do?pageld =335795
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East, (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm based schemes in the South East Cambridgeshire constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £12, 865, 707.74.
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

Departmental Policies

Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Witney constituency, the effects on Witney of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take my right hon. Friend directly to the service: http://statistics.defra. gov.uk/esg/default.asp. In addition the Office for National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk.
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the Witney constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office for National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, North and Sefton, East (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm based schemes in the Witney constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £13,661,576.34.
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).
	Other benefits
	The following information may also help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits Witney through a selection of activities which have taken place in Oxfordshire.
	Applications for the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) have been received from within the County of Oxfordshire. As at 2004 Oxfordshire had 594 agri-environment schemes which is the highest number of any other county in the region. Grant paid under the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme and Farm Woodland Scheme since 2000 is £1.2 million and £112,000 has been under the Habitat Scheme since 2001. £565,000 has been paid under the Project Based Schemes since 2001.
	Clinics for the promotion of good quality applications under the ERDP are held regularly by the Defra Rural Development Service in Reading and Guildford.
	West Oxfordshire is one of five areas in the South East region that has funding under the LEADER + programme, with European Union support, for experimental development of rural projects and community initiatives. Over 20 projects have, or are being funded, through the programme in Oxfordshire with further projects due to start this year. Projects aim to improve quality of life and particularly target younger and older people, women, rural business and workers affected by rural restructuring.
	The Countryside Agency is supporting a number of projects in the area. The Vital Villages Programme began in 2001 and provides financial support for rural transport projects, projects to enhance and establish key rural services and to assist parishes with producing a parish plan. Funding for this programme in West Oxfordshire exceeds £1 million.
	Defra has worked to implement the vision of the Rural White Paper to support vibrant rural communities through the proactive work of Oxfordshire rural community council which delivers support and services on the ground to rural communities. In the three years from 2001–04 over £800,000 has been invested in supporting rural transport, rural retail services, the provision of affordable homes in rural communities, community development work and work with socially excluded groups in rural areas across Oxfordshire. The money channelled by Defra through the RCC for this work, has also been instrumental at a local level, in levering other sources of finance to support rural communities.
	Defra is funding a pilot study which aims to increase the local food content (fresh, seasonal ingredients) of school meals. Several schools are involved across the pilot area covering Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The findings are due this April.
	The South East Rural Affairs Forum was set up following recommendations in the Rural White Paper. The forum held a conference involving stakeholders across the region on 7 September 2004 and was attended by several stakeholders from Oxfordshire.

Deregulation

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many EU (a) regulations and (b) directives covering matters within the responsibility of her Department have been repealed since 1 April 2004.

Alun Michael: The European Commission publishes information on the repeal of EU regulations and directives in its simplification progress reports. Its last report was published in June 2004 and is available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/governance/docs/comm doc trav en.pdf. The next report will cover the period since 1 April 2004.

Fisheries

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cetaceans have been reported stranded during the 2004–05 season of the pair trawl sea bass fishery.

Ben Bradshaw: The pair trawling sea bass fishery season usually starts in November and continues until April and fishing for sea bass takes place in the south-west Approaches. From 1 November 2004 to 4 March 2005, a total of 90 cetaceans have been reported as stranded on the south coast (Cornwall, Devon and Dorset,). These comprised 47 common dolphins, 31 harbour porpoises, one bottlenose dolphin, two long-finned pilot whales and nine unidentified cetaceans.
	All strandings found in the south-west cannot be solely attributed to the pair trawling sea bass fishery. These figures include stranded dead cetaceans, live strandings and carcasses seen floating at sea. Only 12 of the 90 cetaceans that were stranded were definitely confirmed as bycatch. The data were obtained under the Defra-funded Cetacean and Turtle Strandings Scheme, carried out by the Natural History Museum in partnership with the Institute of Zoology and Scottish Agricultural College.

Green Lanes

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will ensure that the new Government policy and guidance on the vehicular use of green lanes outlined in "Making the Best Byways' is open to public consultation for a 12-week period.

Alun Michael: Formal public consultation is more commonly carried out on policy or legislative proposals. "Making the Best of Byways" is intended as practical guidance. The draft revision was put together with the help of an advisory group including representatives from the Ramblers Association, Sustrans, the British Horse Society, English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales. The draft revision was also circulated for comment to a range of interest groups.

Huddersfield

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Huddersfield constituency, the effects on Huddersfield of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take you directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default. asp. In addition, the Office of National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk.
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and .energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the Huddersfield constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office of National Statistics at the following address: http://www. statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits Huddersfield.
	Waste: Through our national strategy for waste we are committed to delivering a step change to more sustainable waste management, including tough national targets to recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04, and 25 per cent. by 2005–06. To help local authorities achieve their own targets Defra's Waste Minimisation Fund was set up in 2002. As a result of successful bids for money from this fund by Kirklees metropolitan council a total of almost £1.2 million was used for projects which have seen extra green wheeled bins being provided to 140,000 households across Kirklees, including Huddersfield itself. This, together with a waste reduction and reuse awareness raising campaign, also funded by Defra, has enabled Kirklees to double its recycling and composting rate from 7 per cent. in 1998–99 to reach its statutory target of 14 per cent. in 2003–04.
	River Water Quality has improved along the Kirklees rivers, including the Rivers Colne and Holme in Huddersfield over recent years. While 75 per cent. of the rivers' lengths within the Kirklees area were already considered to be of fair or better chemical quality in 1997, by 2003 this had risen to 95 per cent. The improvements in the biological quality of the rivers has been even more rapid with the percentage of river length of fair quality or better rising from 4.0 per cent. in 1995 to 75 per cent. in 2003. These improvements reflect Defra's policy to improve river water quality, which is one of the headline indicators of sustainable development and to raise compliance with the EC water framework directive.
	Flood Defences: With grant support from Defra the Environment Agency has undertaken maintenance and improvement of flood defences around the Huddersfield area and has invested £30 million in new defences in the past 10–15 years across Kirklees as a whole. The Environment Agency also now offers a flood warning service for residents and businesses at high and medium risk of flooding through Huddersfield.
	Rural Environment: The most important agri-environment scheme delivered by Defra's Rural Development Service in the Huddersfield area constituency is the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS). It aims are to help to conserve and improve the rural environment. There are three CSS agreements in the constituency; the total area of land on these three holdings is 123.42ha, of which 22.12ha is under agreement. In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the common agricultural policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm-based schemes in the Huddersfield constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £146,410.85.
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

Litter

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with companies that use large quantities of food wrapping paper on (a) mechanisms to persuade customers not to cause litter and (b) using biodegradable materials to reduce litter.

Elliot Morley: On 22 November 2004 the Government launched its Voluntary Code of Practice for "Food on the Go'—the aim of which is to reduce the amount of food related waste that becomes litter in the local environment. This followed over two years of extensive research into the problem and detailed consultation with both businesses that sell food for immediate consumption, and the industry bodies that represent them.
	The voluntary code sets out a series of recommendations for joint action between businesses and local authorities. These include measures to minimise packaging by using biodegradable materials in its production, asking customers if they require a bag, and displaying anti littering messaging on packaging. This is complemented by recommendations on the implementation of education and community engagement initiatives, and the local authority's enforcement regime.

Livestock Burial

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she is taking against those farmers who continue to engage in on-farm burial of livestock.

Ben Bradshaw: The scheme is voluntary and farmers may dispose of their fallen stock outside of the scheme providing the method used meets with the requirements of the "Animal By-Products Regulation" (Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002).
	Where on-farm burial continues we would expect local enforcement agencies to investigate and, where necessary, take appropriate action against the person or persons responsible.

North Durham

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on North Durham constituency of her Department's policies since June 2001.

Alun Michael: Defra publishes a wide range of statistical information relating to its policies and actions and the following web address will take you directly to the service: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default. asp. In addition, the Office of National Statistics also publishes further information that you can access from its website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk
	Since its establishment in 2001 Defra has put in place a comprehensive programme of action on issues including sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. I am confident that the North Durham constituency will have benefited from these but it is not possible to systematically quantify those benefits to a constituency level. The difficulties of such geographical analyses are set out by the Office of National Statistics at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/default.asp.
	The following information may help provide a "word picture" of the way Defra's work benefits North Durham.
	Through our national strategy for waste we are committed to delivering a step change to more sustainable waste management, including tough national targets to recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04, and 25 per cent. by 2005–06. The districts of Chester le Street and Derwentside continue to make a contribution to achieving these national recycling targets and have exceeded regional targets set at 10 per cent. for 2003–04. The districts' recycling performance in 2003–04, the most recent year for which data is available, were 12 per cent. and 14 per cent. respectively, an improvement for each council of 5 per cent.
	The policy initiatives flowing from the Rural White Paper had a major impact on people in rural and urban fringe locations. North Durham constituents will have benefited from a living, working and vibrant countryside surrounding the towns of Stanley and Chester le Street. The Rural Strategy published in July 2004, builds on the success of the White Paper and aims to give the people of North Durham a greater say in the delivery of services.
	The Modernising Rural Delivery pathfinder initiative is a key part of the Government's Rural Strategy and is designed to test and share, at a local authority level, good practice on the Government's commitment to devolve decision-making and resources to the local level. In October, I announced seven rural pathfinders in England, and I announced the final pathfinder in the West Durham area more recently. The North East pathfinder will ensure greater co-ordination of rural delivery programmes testing new and innovative methods to bring about improvements in the delivery of services to rural communities and businesses. Whilst not directly located in the pathfinder area, I expect that the lessons learned will be shared across the constituency, the North East Region and nationally.
	West County Durham is an area steeped in a rich social, industrial and natural heritage. I am pleased that the Department is involved in the "Mineral Valleys Project", which covers an area of 89,000 hectares, aims to use environment-led regeneration to help local communities celebrate their heritage whilst enhancing the environment around them. The Mineral Valleys Partnership that includes 50 businesses, statutory, community and voluntary organisations, led by English Nature and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, has been successful in putting a £5.2 million programme together to make this vision a reality. This exciting project has resulted in a number of positive environmental outcomes for the constituency including the Saving Stanley Burn and Woods Project, an Otter Holt at Chester le Street and the creation of wetland at Chester Moor.
	In terms of specific payments we have been able to isolate expenditure under the common agricultural policy and a list of payments by constituency is available in the Library of the House following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley North and Sefton East (Mr. Howarth) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, columns 1149–50W. It is noted in these figures that payments to customers are reported on the basis of requested business address which may differ from the location of farming activity.
	Common Agricultural Policy
	Payments to farm-based schemes in the North Durham constituency for the 2004 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) accounting year which ran from 16 October 2003 to 15 October 2004 amount to £1,031,592.59.
	The schemes included are the Arable Area Payment, Beef Special Premium, Suckler Cow Premium, Extensification Premium, Slaughter Premium, Sheep Annual Premium, Over Thirty Months Slaughter, England Rural Development Programme and Structural Funds (which are monies made available by EAGGF to contribute to the economic development of disadvantaged regions within Europe).

Traffic Regulation Orders

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the expected issue date for advice on the pre-emptive use of traffic regulation orders, as set out in paragraph 12 of the document "Use of mechanically propelled vehicles on rights of way: The Government's framework for action".

Alun Michael: Advice and practical examples on the use of pre-emptive traffic regulation orders for local authorities will be included in both the revision to the departmental publication "Making the Best of Byways" and new enforcement guidance. These publications will be available shortly and copies will be placed in the Library of the House.

Cross-Border Implementation Bodies

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget was for the Cross-Border Implementation Bodies for each of the last 10 years; what percentage change has taken place in these budgets in each year; and what proportion of the budget of each was contributed by the Government in each year.

Ian Pearson: The North/South Implementation Bodies were established on 2 December 1999 and details of the relevant budgets, annual percentage changes and the Northern Ireland share of the budgets for each year since then are provided in the following table.
	
		
			   North/south implementation bodies budgets(19) 
			   Year ended 31 December 
			 Body  2000(20) 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Foyle Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission
			  Budget £ million 2.9 3.85 4.18 3.20 3.20 3.67 
			  Percentage change — 33 9 -23 0 15 
			  Percentage NI share 17 20 34 50 50 50 
			 Waterways Ireland
			  Budget £ million 11.3 18.82 21.99 22.61 31.70 34.16 
			  Percentage change — 67 17 3 40 8 
			  Percentage NI share 12 12 17 35 32 35 
			 The Trade and Business Development Body
			  Budget £ million 7.7 8.63 9.52 9.00 9.00 9.27 
			  Percentage change — 12 10 -5 0 3 
			  Percentage NI share 40 33 33 33 33 33 
			 Special EU Programmes Body
			  Budget £ million 2.0 1.2 1.75 2.02 2.02 2.195 
			  Percentage change — -40 46 15 0 9 
			  Percentage NI share 20 50 50 56 56 56 
			 The North/South Language Body
			  Budget £ million 7.1 11.42 11.97 11.33 14.6 14.7 
			  Percentage change — 61 5 -5 29 1 
			  Percentage NI share 32 31 31 31 31 31 
			 The Food Safety Promotion Board
			  Budget £ million 3.0 4.87 4.96 5.42 6.08 6.16 
			  Percentage change — 62 2 9 12 1 
			  Percentage NI share 26 30 30 30 30 30 
		
	
	(19) The budget figures quoted are the initial approved annual budgets and do not include any additional non-recurrent allocations that may have been agreed through the in-year monitoring process.
	(20) Figures cover the period 2 December 1999 to 31 December 2000.

Pensioner Households (Additional Payments)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2005, Official Report, column 706W, on Northern Ireland, whether persons in Northern Ireland whose 65th birthday falls on 6 October will qualify for the additional £200 payment to over 65 pensioner ratepayer households equivalent to that in Great Britain.

John Spellar: As the qualifying week for the £200 payment is 19 to 25 September 2005, a person whose 65th birthday falls on 6 October will not qualify for the payment.

RUC Reserve

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of the Part-Time RUC Reserve resigned as a result of intimidation or other terrorist activity during the Troubles.

Ian Pearson: Information held on the PSNI Human Resources system indicates that nine members of the Part-Time Reserve left the service giving the reason as "Threatened". However, this figure cannot be regarded as definitive as specific reasons for leaving are not always provided.

Sinn Fein/IRA

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the fine imposed by the Government on Sinn Fein/IRA in April 2004 has been paid since the first report of the Independent Monitoring Commission.

Paul Murphy: Following the first report by the Independent Monitoring Commission, I directed that Sinn Fein should not receive the financial assistance payable to Northern Ireland political parties for 12 months from 29 April. No such payments have been made to Sinn Fein, In the light of the IMC's report on the Northern bank robbery, I have directed that Sinn Fein will not receive financial assistance for a further 12 months, from 29 April 2005.

Waste Disposal

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what alternatives to landfill for waste disposal are available in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: In the Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy, the waste management hierarchy gives top priority to prevention and second priority to recovery—with a preference for re-use and material recovery insofar as they are the best environmental options. Disposal of waste is very much a last option.
	Landfill is the only disposal option currently available in Northern Ireland. However, the recent "Best Practicable Environmental Option" exercise to identify waste management solutions for Northern Ireland highlighted the need for thermal treatment by 2013. In addition, a range of other physical treatment options to recover and reuse material have been identified as an alternative to disposal.
	District councils continue to work towards increased recycling, and the Department of the Environment supports them in their roll-out of separate kerbside collections of recyclable and compostable material, thereby reducing the quantity of waste going for disposal.

Benefits

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what action he proposes to take regarding benefits and direct payments being claimed by carers on behalf of claimants with particular reference to issues raised with the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Pond) on BBC Radio 4 on 12 March;
	(2)  what representations he has received concerning difficulties faced by authorised third parties in cashing giro cheques at post offices on behalf of claimants; what discussions he has had with (a) the Post Office and (b) Alliance and Leicester on the issues; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: Cheque payments are designed for the small number of people who we cannot pay directly into an account. We settled on this solution following extensive consultation with customer representative groups. The cheque provides the facility for a third party (including a carer) to cash cheques under £450 on the customer's behalf at a Post Office and this facility has worked successfully for many years.
	We need to strike a balance between a customer's right to access their benefit or pension and the need to prevent the cheque being cashed by an unauthorised person without the customer's knowledge. For this reason the Post Office requires the third party presenting the cheque for encashment to produce evidence of both their own and the customer's identity.
	There is currently a wide range of forms of identification, which are acceptable to the Post Office to enable a carer or other person to cash a cheque on a customer's behalf. These are listed on the reverse of the cheque. In addition other forms of identification may be accepted at the discretion of the postmaster.
	Officials have obtained a report from Post Office Ltd. about the circumstances of the case raised with me on BBC Radio 4 on 12 March 2004. Neither the Department nor Post Office Ltd. have seen any evidence to suggest that there are widespread difficulties being faced by authorised third parties cashing cheques on behalf of customers. However, we will continue to monitor the situation closely and make improvements to the process if necessary.

Bereavement Benefits

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for bereavement benefits there were in each of the last five years; how many were submitted by individuals in receipt of incapacity benefit; and how many were successful in each case.

Chris Pond: holding answer 23 March 2005
	Bereavement Benefit was introduced in April 2001. Information on the number of claims is not available. The available information on the number of recipients is in the table.
	
		Bereavement Benefit recipients in Great Britain -- Number
		
			  2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 All bereavement benefit recipients in Great Britain 36,300 43,600 45,300 
			 Widowed parents allowance recipients in Great Britain 13,400 20,100 25,300 
			 Bereavement allowance recipients in Great Britain 22,900 23,500 20,000 
			 Bereavement Benefit recipients also receiving IB/SDA 2,000 1,800 1,200 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Bereavement benefit data is taken as at March each year. Incapacity benefits data is taken as at February each year.
	2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disability allowance (SDA) figures include all IB, SDA and credits-only cases. The figures include those cases where IB/SDA entitlement is extinguished by the overlapping benefit rules.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample

Pension Expenditure

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) male and (b) female recipients of (i) the basic state pension, (ii) additional pension, (iii) guarantee credit and (iv) savings credit in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by constituency.

Malcolm Wicks: The information has been placed in the Library.

"Choosing Health"

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's work programme to support the aims of the public health White Paper, "Choosing Health", as described in paragraph 28, page 41, of the Choosing Activity physical activity action plan published on 9 March.

Melanie Johnson: A number of guidance topics were referred to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on 5 April 2005, including topics in support of public health interventions and programmes pursuant to the aims of "Choosing health—Making healthier choices easier". This referral included six public health guidance topics:
	An assessment of four commonly used methods to increase physical activity: brief interventions in primary care, pedometers, exercise referral schemes and community based exercise programmes for walking and cycling.
	An assessment of interventions (including screening) to reduce the transmission of Chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections and to reduce the rate of under 18 conceptions, especially among vulnerable and at risk groups.
	An assessment of brief interventions and referral for smoking cessation in primary care (including pharmacy and dental services as well as general practitioner's surgeries) and other settings with particular reference to pregnant smokers and disadvantaged groups and the tailoring and targeting of interventions.
	Guidance on the optimal provision of smoking cessation services including the provision of nicotine replacement therapy, for primary care, pharmacies, local authorities and workplaces with particular reference to manual groups, pregnant smokers and hard to reach communities.
	Guidance for midwives, health visitors, pharmacists and other primary care services to improve the nutrition of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and children in low income households.
	The most appropriate means of generic and specific interventions to support attitude and behaviour change at population and community levels.
	NICE has already been commissioned to produce guidelines on the management and prevention of obesity.

Chronic Disease Management

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to develop a co-ordinated approach to chronic disease management in patients with (a) diabetes, (b) heart disease and (c) kidney disease.

Rosie Winterton: The NHS Improvement Plan set out the Government's priority to improve care for people with long-term conditions by moving from reactive care towards a systematic, patient centred approach. The national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions was launched on 10 March 2005 and aims to support people with long-term conditions to live as full and independent a life as possible.
	The Department has set up a vascular programmes board that will oversee delivery of the targets for cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease, stroke and other circulatory diseases), diabetes, chronic kidney disease, health improvement and prevention, and hypertension. The work of the board will assist in the process of taking a more co-ordinated approach to chronic disease management in patients with diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease.
	The diabetes NSF was published in December 2001. The NSF sets out a 10-year programme of change where all people with diabetes requiring multi-agency support will receive integrated health and social care. The recently published report, "Improving Diabetes Services—the NSF Two Years On", provides information about how services are changing to provide an integrated approach for people with diabetes.
	The coronary heart disease (CHD) NSF, published in March 2000, set out a strategy to modernise CHD services over 10 years. Heart failure was identified as an area where there was significant scope to help people with heart failure live longer and achieve a better quality of life.
	Part two of the NSF for renal services was published in February 2005. It sets out new quality requirements for the identification and early management of people with, or at risk of, chronic kidney disease. It also identifies considerable scope for integrating care pathways for people with chronic kidney disease, coronary heart disease and/or diabetes, to reduce the impact of these interacting long-term conditions.

Health Expenditure

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of health expenditure relating to (a) nicotine, (b) alcohol and (c) illegal drug use in each of the last five years.

Melanie Johnson: Smoking costs the national health service between £1.4 billion and £1.7 billion a year in England, as set out in the White Paper, Choosing Health 1 .
	1 Buck D et al—University of York Centre for Health Economics. Cost effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions: Health Education Authority 1997.
	The interim analytical report prepared by the strategy unit to support the production of the alcohol harm reduction strategy for England estimated the cost annually to the health service due to alcohol related harm as between £1.4 and £1.7 billion.
	The Home Office research study 249, "The economic and social costs of class A drug misuse in England and Wales, 2000", estimated that:
	Young recreational users cost the NHS about £2 million.
	The total healthcare costs for older regular users were also about £2 million.
	Problem drug users are estimated to cost the NHS between £283 million and £509 million per year, in addition to the specific addiction treatment they are receiving.

Health White Paper

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2004, Official Report, column 504W, on Health White Paper, what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing the Healthy Start programme (a) in total and (b) broken down by (i) costs of the campaign aimed at families, (ii) costs of the communications and training programme for health professionals and (iii) other costs.

Melanie Johnson: Healthy Start will replace the existing welfare food scheme and will be phased in from summer 2005. We expect that Healthy Start expenditure should continue at a similar level to the welfare food scheme. The budget is demand-led and current expenditure is approximately £140 million per annum.
	A draft regulatory impact assessment (RIA), which includes breakdowns of the expected costs of Healthy Start, was published in the Healthy Start consultation on draft regulations that was launched on 1 February 2005. This RIA will be revised in light of the responses to the consultation and before Parliament is invited to approve the regulations. The consultation ends on 26 April.
	A communications strategy and health professional training activities for Healthy Start are currently in development and will link in with communications and training to be provided as part of the actions set out in the "Choosing a Better Diet: a food and health action plan".

MRI Scans

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2005, Official Report, column 1910W, on MRI scans, if he will set out for each month for which he has records the information on (a) number of scans, (b) number of rejections, (c) timeliness, (d) quality and (e) customer satisfaction.

John Hutton: holding answer 17 March 2005
	The number of scans performed by Alliance Medical Limited (AML) and customer satisfaction rates for each month is shown in the table.
	In relation to information concerning rejections, timeliness and quality, I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 9 March.
	
		
			 Month Number of patients scanned Patient satisfaction (good or excellent) (percentage) 
		
		
			 August 2,097 n/a 
			 September 2,884 90 
			 October 4,201 91 
			 November 5,999 96 
			 December 4,564 96 
			 January 5,252 93 
			 February 4,456 n/a 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data provided by Alliance Medical, but not validated by the Department.
	2. The contract began roll-out in August 2004 and has been fully operational since December 2004.
	3. AML first surveyed patients in September 2005. Data for February 2005 is not yet available.

NHS Absences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many working days have been lost due to (a) sickness and (b) absenteeism in the NHS in each of the past 10 years.

John Hutton: National data on sickness absence levels in the national health service has only been collected since 1999 and is collected as a percentage rate, rather than the number of working days lost. Data for the period 1999–2003 is shown in the table. National data on other types of absence in the NHS is not collected centrally, but may be available from individual NHS employing organisations.
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1999 4.9 
			 2000 4.7 
			 2001 4.8 
			 2002 6.4 
			 2003 4.7

Nurses

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expenditure by West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service NHS Trust was in each of the financial years since 2001–02 on employing (a) qualified nursing staff and (b) qualified temporary nursing staff.

Melanie Johnson: The table shows expenditure by the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust (WYMAS) on NHS qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff and non NHS nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, for the years 2001–02 to 2003–04.
	
		(£)
		
			  Qualified NHS nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff Non-NHS nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 
		
		
			 2001–02 13,599,638 12,460,320 
			 2002–03 22,972,181 38,150,587 
			 2003–04 26,596,911 21,660,434 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The Department collects expenditure information on NHS and non-NHS staff by NHS trusts. Non-NHS staff expenditure figures include all agency staff and any other staff not directly employed by the trusts.
	2. WYMAS was a lead organisation for NHS Professionals. The non-NHS figures shown in the table relate to expenditure on NHS professionals. These figures have not been used in previous parliamentary responses (to avoid double counting) due to the fact that other NHS trusts included the expenditure in their financial returns when reporting NHS professionals that they employed via WYMAS.
	Source:
	Annual financial returns of NHS trusts.

Occupational Code Definitions

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the NHS occupational codes and their definitions for all (a) non-clinical and (b) clinical jobs, broken down by (i) strategic health authority and (ii) NHS hospital trust in (A) 2003–04 and (B) 2002–03.

John Hutton: The information requested will be placed in the Library shortly.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list regulatory impact assessments which have included health impact assessments.

Rosie Winterton: Since November 2004, the Department and the Food Standards Agency have published the following regulatory impact assessments, which include a consideration of the impact on health:
	Department of Health:
	"Choosing Health" White Paper: overarching partial regulatory impact assessment and annexes
	Action on food advertising and promotion to children.
	Action reducing salt, fat and sugar intakes in England.
	Action on second-hand smoke.
	Action on sales of tobacco to under-16s.
	Supporting national health service frontline staff in health improvement.
	"Safer Management of Controlled Drugs": the Government's response to the fourth Shipman inquiry.
	Medicines (Marketing Authorisations and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2004.
	The Medicines (Pharmacies) (Applications for Registration and Fees) Amendment Regulations 2004.
	National service framework (NSF) for renal services, part two: chronic kidney disease, acute renal failure and end-of-life care.
	European Blood Safety: Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 to implement European directives 2002/98/EC and 2004/33/EC.
	The Opticians Act 1989 (Amendment) Order 2005.
	The Water Fluoridation (Consultation) Regulations 2005.
	NSF for long-term conditions.
	The National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services Supplementary List) and (General Ophthalmic Services Amendment and Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2005.
	The Medicines for Human Use (Prescribing) Order 2005 (Extension of Supplementary prescribing to Chiropodists, Physiotherapists and Radiographers).
	The Medicines for Human Use (Prescribing) Order 2005 (Extended Formulary Nurse Prescribing: Amendments to the Prescription only Medicines (Human Use) Order 1997).
	The Medicines for Human Use (Prescribing) Order 2005.
	NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005:
	Introduction of new community pharmacy contractual framework.
	Implementation of the Government response to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) report on community pharmacy services.
	Introduction of "Fitness to Practice" requirements for community pharmacy contractors and pharmacists providing NHS pharmaceutical services.
	Food Standards Agency:
	The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2004: Maximum levels for dioxins in foodstuffs.
	The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2004: Maximum levels aflatoxins in maize.
	The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2004: Maximum levels for patulin in foodstuffs.
	The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2004: Maximum levels for tin in canned foodstuffs.
	The Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004.
	The General Food Regulations 2004.
	The Sweeteners in Food (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004.
	The Food with Added Phytosterols or Phytostanols (Labelling) (England) Regulations.
	The Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2005–04–05.
	The TSE (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2005–04–05.
	The Contaminants in Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (Maximum levels for nitrate in foods for infants and young children).
	The Contaminants in Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (Maximum levels aflatoxins or ochratoxin A in foods for infants and young children).
	The Smoke Flavourings (England) Regulations 2005–04–05.
	The Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2005.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase year on year the proportion of drug users successfully sustaining or completing treatment programmes has been met thus far.

Melanie Johnson: The proportion of drug users successfully sustaining or completing treatment programmes fell from 59 per cent. In 2001–02 1 to 57 per cent. In 2002–03 1 , rising to 72 per cent. in 2003–04 2 .
	1 Figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03 are provisional.
	2 In 2003–04, the methodology used for counting the numbers in drug treatment in England was revised to reflect numbers in treatment more accurately.
	Note
	The definition of structured drug treatment has also tightened with the implementation of Models of care for the treatment of adult drug misusers, which was published in 2002.
	Sources
	1. Provisional statistics from the national drug treatment monitoring system in England, 2001–02 and 2002–03, available on the Department's website at www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/spndrugs0312.htm
	2. Key statistics on drug misusers in treatment, England 2003–04, available at www.nta.nhs.uk/programme/national/ntdms data 0304.htm

Waiting Times (Leeds)

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting times for (a) inpatient and (b) outpatient treatment in hospitals in Leeds were in (i) 1993, (ii) 1995, (iii) 1997 and (iv) the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by specialty.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Agency Budgets

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for financial years (a) 2001–02, (b) 2000–01, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 1998–99 and (e) 1997–98 the (i) Warship Support Agency, (ii) Veterans Agency and (iii) UK Hydrographic Office spent in Scotland in (A) monetary terms and (B) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: Both civilian and Service personnel data by agency are collated annually at 1 April and presented in Table 2.6 of UK Defence Statistics, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. Further information on personnel figures is available on the DASA website at http://www.dasa.mod.uk
	The number of Service personnel employed by agency and location is not collated centrally, although the UK Hydrographic Office have confirmed from locally held records that no Service personnel have been employed in Scotland.
	A table showing numbers of civilian personnel by MOD agency, for the agency as a total and those employed in Scotland specifically, for the period 1 April 1997 to 1 January 2005, is available on the Defence Analytical Services Agency website, http://www.dasa.mod.uk, and is also lodged in the Library of the House.
	Information relating to the total personnel costs of each of these agencies is available from their respective Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
	In the case of the Veterans Agency, the relevant publications relate to the War Pensions Agency, which was transferred to the MOD in April 2002 and subsequently took the name Veterans Agency.
	Before 1 April 2001, the Warship Support Agency was split between two organisations, the Ships Support Agency and the Naval Bases and Supply Agency.
	More detailed analysis of personnel costs by region could be supplied only at disproportionate costs, as the information is not held centrally.

Advertising Contracts

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many advertising contracts, and to what value, were signed by his Department in the periods (a) 1 September 2004 to 1 March 2005 and (b) 1 September 2003 to 1 March 2004, broken down by (i) television, (ii) radio, (iii) press, (iv) direct mail and (v) other advertising.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 2 March 2005
	Data on advertising contracts is not recorded by the categories requested and can be identified only from the UK Standard Industrial Classification Code 2003 allocated to the contract. The SIC code is used to record activities and products and is published and approved for use by the Office of National Statistics. Therefore, contracts and their values identified by Advertising SIC Codes for the periods in question are as follows.
	
		Advertising Contracts for Period 1 September 2003 to1 March 2004
		
			 SIC Code Description Date placed Contract value (£) 
		
		
			 22120 (Advertising covering: 19 February 2004 25,000 
			  newspaper publishing (manufacture)   
			 
			 22220 (Advertising covering: (manufacture) 8 September 2003 30,000 
			  catalogue printing and printed matter manufacture 22 December 2003 3,800 
			   20 January 2004 60,000 
			   3 October 2003 2,900 
			   13 November 2003 288,000 
			  
			 25240 Advertising covering: 4 December 2003 4,500 
			  advertising material made of plastic (manufacture) 23 October 2003 7,900 
			   8 January 2004 1,300 
			   17 November 2003 14,300 
			   26 September 2003 75,000 
			   17 November 2003 14,300 
			   26 September 2003 75,000 
			   26 November 2003 29,400 
			   10 December 2003 7,100 
			   11 November 2003 11,200 
			   11 February 2004 3,000 
			   7 January 2004 13,000 
			   11 February 2004 1,500 
			   11 February 2004 753,000 
			   18 February 2004 257,000 
			   11 February 2004 464,000 
			   11 February 2004 420,000 
			   11 February 2004 496,000 
			   11 February 2004 1,000 
			   1 September 2003 211,000 
			   23 December 2003 452,000 
			   16 February 2004 83,000 
			   17 November 2003 2,600 
			   26 February 2004 452,000 
			   18 February 2004 25,300 
			   18 December 2003 3,600 
			   16 February 2004 11,300 
			   9 September 2003 92,000 
			  
			 131500 Advertising covering: 15 December 2003  
			  light (manufacture) 24 October 2003 1,700 
			   28 January 2004 77,400 
			   30 September 2004 37,200 
			   20 October 2003 9,100 
			   24 November 2003 32,200 
			   5 February 2004 17.100 
			   17 February 2004 7,700 
			   13 February 2004 48,400 
			   22 December 2003 370,200 
			   3 November 2003 26,100 
			   27 February 2004 139,300 
			   26 January 2004 1,800 
			   17 December 2003 6,400 
			  
			 74400 Advertising covering: 17 November 2003 122,000 
			  campaign creation and realisation; advertising consultants; advertising material or samples delivery or distribution; advertising space or time sales or leasing activities   
			 
			 92110 Advertising covering: 2 September 2003 46,500 
			  film production 4 November 2003 14,800 
			   6 February 2004 58,700 
			  
			 Advertising contracts for period 1 September 2004 to March 2005 
			 22220 Advertising covering: 20 September 2004 7,900 
			  catalogue printing (manufacture) 2 February 2005 14,800 
			   16 December 2004 455,000 
			 25240 Advertising covering: 6 December 2004 14,400 
			  material made of plastic (manufacture) 25 November 2004 87,900 
			   10 November 2004 364,000 
			   21 December 2004 4,100 
			   6 October 2004 463,700 
			   6 September 2004 672,900 
			   3 September 2004 845.00 
			   9 September 2004 2,500 
			   1 December 2004 16,800 
			  
			 31500 Advertising covering: 10 December 2004 180,000 
			  light (manufacture) 17 January 2005 25,000 
			   21 December 2004 15,000 
			   22 October 2004 24,900 
			 174400  17 January 2005 24,700 
			   20 January 2005 8,500 
			   30 November 2004 57,300 
			   1 November 2004 25,300 
			   6 September 2004 11,000 
			   22 November 2004 920,000 
			  
			 74400 Advertising covering: 1 October 2004 60,000 
			  campaign creation and realisation; advertising consultants; 22 November 2004 16,000 
			  advertising Material or samples delivery or distribution"  advertising space or time sales or leasing activities 7 September 2004 127,600 
			  
			 92110 Advertising covering: 1 October 2004 45,000 
			  film production 1 October 2004 34,000 
			   1 October 2004 36,000 
			   1 October 2004 36,000 
			   1 October 2004 33,000

Army Discipline

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the conformity of the practice of administrative discharge through manning controls with (a) European Union legislation, (b) the European Convention on Human Rights and (c) the Employment Rights Act 1966.

Ivor Caplin: European Union employment legislation is reflected in the Employment Rights Act 1996, from which the armed forces are exempt. The European Convention on Human Rights contains no provision relating to the right to work. Notwithstanding the provision of law, the armed forces are governed in large measure by the "royal prerogative" which allows for the discharge of personnel through manning control measures.

British Forces Post Office

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many people worked for the British Forces Post Office on (a) 1 January and (b) 1 January 2004; how many were employed in Scotland in each case; and what the personnel costs of the agency (i) are in 2004–05 and (ii) will be in 2005–06.
	(2)  how much of its personnel budget for financial years (a) 2001–02, (b) 2000–01, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 1998–99 and (e) 1997–98 the British Forces Post Office spent in Scotland in (i) monetary terms and (ii) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The information is as follows:
	
		Staff employed by British Forces Post Office -- Number
		
			  Agency totals Employed in Scotland 
			  January 2004 January 2005 January 2004 January 2005 
		
		
			 Civilian personnel 360 330 10 10 
			 Service personnel 210 200 0 0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. This table uses the revised definition of civilian personnel (see www.dasa.mod.uk for details).
	2. The figures shown are full-time equivalents.
	3. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	4. Details of civilian personnel in Defence Agencies and MoD owned trading funds by UK country can be found in UKDS 2004 Table 2.36, available in the House of Commons Library
	Both civilian and service personnel data by Agency are collated annually at 1 April and presented in Table 2.6 of UK Defence Statistics, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. Further information on personnel figures is available on the DASA website at www.dasa.mod.uk
	The number of service personnel employed by Agency and location is not collated centrally. However, locally held records indicate that no service personnel have been employed in Scotland. A table showing numbers of civilian personnel by MoD Agency, for the Agency as a total and those employed in Scotland specifically, for the period 1 April 1997 to 1 January 2005, has also been published on the Defence Analytical Services Agency website, www.dasa.mod.uk, and is also lodged in the Library of the House.
	The civilian workforce numbers have been collated from centrally held records and may be different to locally produced numbers. However, all numbers in the table are produced using the agreed standard definition of civilian workforce, in full-time equivalent terms (part-time staff are counted only in proportion to the number of hours worked compared to the normal full-time hours) and are rounded to the nearest 10 to preserve confidentiality.
	Data on projected personnel costs for 2004–05 and 2005–06 are not currently available.

Burgaled Breiz Trawler

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2004, Official Report, columns 410–12W, on the Burgaled Breiz trawler, whether HMS Turbulent was due to participate in ASWEX 04 prior to suffering damage on 16th January 2004.

Adam Ingram: Yes.

Burgaled Breiz Trawler

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2004, Official Report, columns 410–12W, on the Burgaled Breiz trawler, how long HMS Turbulent remained in Devonport after 16 January 2004.

Adam Ingram: HMS Turbulent remained in Devonport until 19 January 2004, when she sailed for Gibraltar.

Burgaled Breiz Trawler

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2004, Official Report, columns 410–12W, on the Burgaled Breiz Trawler, what the itinerary was of the two Dauphin helicopters from FOST flying in the vicinity at the time of the sinking of the Burgaled Breiz on 15 January 2004.

Adam Ingram: The two Dauphin helicopters operating from POST on 15 January 2004 were transporting personnel from Plymouth Airport to HMS Cumberland and HMS Edinburgh.

Burgaled Breiz Trawler

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2004, Official Report, columns 410–12W, on the Burgaled Breiz trawler, which UK and French submarines participated in joint exercises in the vicinity at the time of the sinking of the Burgaled Breiz on 15 January 2004; and what their itinerary was.

Adam Ingram: HMS Torbay was participating in a UK-led Anti-Submarine Warfare exercise on 15 January 2004. She was a little over 100 nautical miles west of the Burgaled Breiz's reported position at the time of her sinking. FS Rubis was under French Operational Control in French exercise areas south of Ushant on the 15 January 2004 en route to participating in ASWEX 04.

Burgaled Breiz Trawler

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2004, Official Report, columns 410–12W, on the Burgaled Breiz trawler, which French and Dutch vessels were in Devonport on 15 January 2004.

Adam Ingram: HNLMS Williem Van Der Zaan was alongside in the naval base throughout the day.
	The following French and Dutch vessels were under way in the harbour on 15 January 2004:
	FS Primauguet
	HNLMS Karel Doorman
	HNLMS Van Nes

Conferences

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many conferences were (a) attended by officials from his Department, (b) cancelled by and (c) facilitated by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the (i) cost to the Department and (ii) location was in each case.

Ivor Caplin: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Defence Science

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures his Department has in place to encourage the retention of scientists (a) within Dstl and (b) engaged in research in other parts of the Department.

Adam Ingram: We recognise the value of scientific staff to the Department and have in place a number of measures to retain their expertise and experience. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has strong head of profession leadership through the Defence Engineering and Science Group (DESG). The group supports technical staff by coordinating training, development, career progression and Chartership. In general, the Department is on a par with the best of major employers of specialists in terms of retention rates.
	The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), with a turnover of £340 million, is the biggest employer of research scientists in the MOD. Dstl provides considerable training and development opportunities—technical training programmes are offered to develop and refresh technical knowledge and there is a Chartership Scheme accredited to eight professional institutions which is open to all staff.
	Dstl staff are also allowed time off to undertake further study such as MSc or PhD qualifications with relevant tuition fees paid. There are links with five universities for research purposes and staff are encouraged to spend time in other laboratories to ensure that knowledge remains current. Secondments are available to other areas of the Department and Government, UK industry and international laboratories. There is an internal symposium held annually to encourage networking and debate on topical research areas. There is a Scheme for Technical Education and Professional Support to encourage networking, conferences and events for junior staff and a Fellowship Scheme which gives recognition to senior staff who are acknowledged as national or international experts in their field.
	Similar benefits are available for scientists engaged in research in other parts of the Department, including the Hydrographic Office, the Meteorological Office and central MOD.

Defence Science

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the ratio of DSTL research spending, excluding spending contracted out to third parties, to DSTL spending on other activities in the last period for which figures are available.

Adam Ingram: The figures for the first 11 months of the financial year 2004–05 for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory indicate that the ratio of the amount spent on scientific activities, including research but excluding that contracted out to third parties, to the amount spent on other activities was 4.2 to 1. The term "other activities" has been interpreted as costs of non-scientific functional support.

Defence Science

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence through what methods DSTL scientists acquire hands-on research expertise in the (a) science and technology projects and (b) equipment procurement areas of the technical projects upon which they are required to advise.

Adam Ingram: The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Dstl, has a range of approaches to ensure that its scientists and engineers acquire and retain the knowledge and expertise required to discharge its roles within the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Hands-on practical research expertise is only one element, and Dstl is tasked to undertake part of the MOD's Research Building Block itself in a range of systems areas and a sub-set of sensitive defence technologies. In addition, Dstl undertakes the knowledge integration role for the Research customers which requires it to work closely with the other organisations in industry and academia engaged in hands-on research.
	Dstl encourages its staff to undertake research based MSc and PhD activities as well as having a commitment to their continuous professional development through membership of the appropriate professional institutes. To strengthen engagement in underlying technical areas where Dstl has limited hands-on work of its own, it has set up Co-operative Research Centres with academia to facilitate the exchange of staff and resources between Dstl and partner Universities. This allows Dstl staff to work within the partner University alongside external researchers who are engaged in MOD funded work, for example through the Joint Grant Scheme. Dstl has also entered into arrangements with industry to encourage staff secondment and established opportunities for staff interchange with other national and international laboratories.
	Dstl staff are also involved in oversight of the MOD Defence Technology Centres which are formal collaborative arrangements between industry and academic experts in particular technologies.
	These kinds of arrangement enable Dstl scientists to develop and extend their knowledge networks and improve the quality and context of its advice.

Defence Science

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the Government's science and technology projects and equipment procurement spending in each of the last five years occurred without advice from (a) DSTL and (b) other technical sources.

Adam Ingram: All significant spending on Ministry of Defence science and technology projects and equipment procurement spending involves advice from a variety of appropriate technical sources, which include Dstl, QinetiQ, industry and academia. Such advice is synthesised by MOD technical experts.
	I am unable to comment on other Government Departments' science and technology projects and equipment procurement spending.

Defence Science

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what technical sources the Department used for impartial advice on the Government's (a) science and technology projects and (b) equipment procurement spending in addition to Dstl in each of the last five years.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has its own staff within the Department in addition to Dstl to provide advice on both science and technology projects and equipment procurement. These resources have been available since before the formation of Dstl. MOD does use QinetiQ, industry and academia where appropriate and when impartiality can be assured. In these cases, the majority of final synthesis of technical advice is performed by MOD's own resources.

Defence Service Agencies (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for financial years (a) 2001–02, (b) 2000–01, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 1998–99 and (e) 1997–98 the Army Training and Recruiting Agency spent in Scotland in (i) monetary terms and (ii) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: Both civilian and service personnel data by agency are collated annually at 1 April and presented in Table 2.6 of UK Defence Statistics, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. Further information on personnel figures is available on the DASA website at www.dasa.mod.uk.
	The number of service personnel employed by agency and location is not collated centrally. However, locally held records indicate that in 1997 there were 130 personnel employed in Scotland, and 140 personnel from 1998 to 2002. These figures exclude any personnel employed in armed forces careers offices and Army career information offices in Scotland, for which no data are available.
	A table showing numbers of civilian personnel by MoD agency, for the agency as a total and those employed in Scotland specifically, for the period 1 April 1997 to 1 January 2005, is available on the Defence Analytical Services Agency website, www.dasa.mod.uk, and is also lodged in the Library of the House.
	The following table shows the personnel budget data available, showing the amount spent in Scotland in monetary terms, and as a percentage of the total personnel expenditure. Unfortunately, figures for 1997–98 are not readily available.
	
		
			  1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02   Total 
		
		
			 Scotland 5,182,396 5,674,874 5,968,815 5,760,019 
			 Total 428,893,609 455,442,962 471,740,366 510,427,591 
			 Percentage 1.21 1.25 1.27 1.13 
			  
			 Military 
			 Scotland 4,116,831 4,505,901 4,758,944 4,575,438 
			 Total 350,039,005 376,293,991 389,471,076 421,851,608 
			 Percentage 1.18 1.20 1.22 1.08 
			  
			 Civilian 
			 Scotland 1,065,565 1,168,974 1,204,555 1,184,581 
			 Total 78,854,604 79,148,971 82,256,959 88,575,983 
			 Percentage 1.35 1.48 1.46 1.34

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the cost of building refurbishment carried out by his Department in each of the last two years.

Ivor Caplin: "Refurbishment" is not a term which the Ministry of Defence uses in gathering or recording financial information about the estate, as it can be regarded as capital or maintenance expenditure depending on the circumstances. Work on buildings, which might be categorised as "refurbishment", can range from minor modifications and maintenance to the complete restoration of buildings, and the replacement of machinery such as lifts. Historic information is not currently held centrally or on a consistent basis and it would be impossible to answer the question without disproportionate cost and effort.

Departmental Costs

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on entertainment by his Department in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation.

Adam Ingram: Information on expenditure on "hospitality and entertainment" for financial years 1990–2000 to 2003–04 (inclusive) has been published in our annual resource accounts. For earlier financial years, expenditure has been:
	
		
			  Cost (£ million) 
		
		
			 1997–98 5 
			 1998–99 5.6 
		
	
	These figures reflect expenditure incurred by the MOD and by establishments and formations of the armed forces at home and abroad. I regret that a breakdown of the total figure by subcategory is not held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Expenditure on official entertainment is subject to strict departmental rules and compliance with the principles of propriety set out in government accounting.

Dr. Wouter Basson

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who authorised the visit of Dr. Wouter Basson of South Africa to Porton Down in 1985; for what purpose; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

Heroes Return Programme

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people from Chorley have participated in the Heroes Return programme.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has been advised by the Big Lottery Fund that to date a total of 61 people (27 veterans, 12 spouses, four widows and 18 carers) from Chorley have participated in overseas commemorative visits funded by the "Heroes Return" programme.

Lancashire Regiment

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on how the new name of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, King's Own Borderers Regiment and King's Regiment was arrived at.

Adam Ingram: The process of restructuring the infantry has been worked through by the Army who consulted widely. Colonels of individual regiments were directly involved in the consultation process through the Colonels Commandants of the Divisions of Infantry. As part of this process those infantry divisions affected by the changes were asked to suggest options for new regimental titles. Of the options put forward by the King's Division, the proposed title of the "King's, Lancashire and Border Regiment", was felt by the Executive Committee of the Army Board to best reflect the antecedent regiments from which it will be drawn.

Porton Down

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) production and (b) testing on animals of botulinum toxin takes place at (i) Porton Down and (ii) other Departmental establishments.

Adam Ingram: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Religious Counsellors

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the limits are of confidentiality offered by the Padre or religious counsellor in an Army barracks setting; what (a) guidelines and (b) advice are available to newly appointed officers regarding the limits of such confidentiality; and what provisions are made for periodic advice on the subject to be given to such appointees through the chain of command;
	(2)  on how many occasions in the past five years complaints have been made concerning the Padre or religious counsellor in (a) Catterick, (b) Deepcut, (c) Bullingdon barracks and (d) HMS Lympstone; what disciplinary action was taken in each case; and what the outcome was of that action;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library the advice and directions regarding confidentiality and complaints concerning bullying that have been given through the chain of command to the Padre or religious counsellors at Catterick barracks.

Ivor Caplin: All welfare work, including that conducted by Chaplains or religious counsellors, is conducted within the Army code of confidentiality, information about which is widely available throughout the Army.
	The core element of the code of confidentiality is the legal and professional obligation not to disclose "private information" about another without consent. There are however exceptional circumstances when information can be disclosed, and in some circumstances must be done so without an individual's consent. These are:
	Where there is a risk of harm to the individual or others
	In order to prevent a serious criminal act
	If there is a serious contravention of military law
	If there is, or likely to be, a serious breach of national security
	If the soldier is no longer able to carry out his/her duty (and not disclosing would have a detrimental effect on operational effectiveness)
	There have been no formal complaints in the last five years against Chaplains at any of the establishments listed.

Royal Irish Regiment

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 14 December 2004, Official Report, column 1010W, on the Royal Irish Regiment, if he will provide the information available on the average working hours for the junior rank operational soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment.

Adam Ingram: Information on the average working hours specifically for junior rank operational soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	DASA carry out a continuous sample survey of working patterns which provides an estimate of the average working hours per person, per week, for each service, but the Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service) are not included and the sample is insufficient to report on average working hours at the level of detail requested.
	The results of the 2003–04 survey gave an estimate of an average of 47.1 "hours worked" per week for all regular trained junior ranks in the Army.
	"Hours worked" includes time spent carrying out normal work, secondary duties, compulsory fitness training, organised sports and representational activities but excludes meal and tea breaks and time spent on call.

Veterans Agency

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for financial years (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 the Veterans Agency spent in Scotland (i) in monetary terms and (ii) as a percentage of the total personnel budget; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Vote Registration (Service Men)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action his Department has taken to increase the number of servicemen that are registered to vote.

Ivor Caplin: As I assured the hon. Member for Chichester during the Adjournment debate on 8 December last year, we have worked closely with the Electoral Commission to improve awareness in the service community of the options to register to vote.
	The answers to the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) on 21 December 2004, Official Report, column 1575W, and the hon. Members for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) and Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 10 January 2005, Official Report, column 13, and 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1169, respectively to questions during the Defence Debates, also explained that an internal information campaign began at the end of January.
	A Joint Service Defence Council Instruction providing full information and practical help to service personnel on how to register and explaining the various voting options open to them was also published at the same time.

EU Constitution

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2005, Official Report, column 891W, whether the Government have requested that (a) the European Parliament and (b) other institutions of the European Union do not intervene or fund activities in the referendum on the EU Constitution.

Denis MacShane: The European Parliament (EP) and European Commission have a legitimate role in the provision of objective and factual information on the EU and its activities. This role must of course respect the constitutional and democratic processes of the member states. The Government have been in contact with the EP and the Commission about the provision of information on the EU Constitutional Treaty, including in relation to the referendum and will continue to liaise with them on these issues.

European Funding

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list projects for which the Department has provided joint funding with the European Commission and other institutions of the European Union during the past five financial years; and what funding is planned for such projects in this financial year

Denis MacShane: pursuant to the reply on 4 April 2005, Official Report, c. 1089–90W
	My answer of 4 April to the hon. Member was incorrect. The correct answer should read as follows:
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has worked together with various European institutions on a number of projects in the last five years.
	In October 2003, the FCO and European Commission jointly organised the "Europe United" football tournament as part of the plans to celebrate EU enlargement. In early 2004 the FCO produced with Commission support booklets explaining the benefits of EU enlargement that were sent to the nine English regions and the devolved administrations. On 24 April 2004, there was "Europe Day—Meet the Neighbours"—a jointly organised FCO-Commission project which celebrated EU enlargement.
	The European Parliament funded jointly with the FCO a number of Wilton Park conferences: The European Union's Strategic Priorities (14–16 September 2000); Reforming the Governance of the European Union: Towards an ever closer EU? (22–24 October 2001); How Can Parliamentarians Best Re-Engage the Public? (9–12 June 2003); The Future of Europe: What kind of Institutional and Security arrangements do we want (September 2002). In addition, the European Parliament hired an Exhibition Space at the Europe Day.
	The FCO and EU institutions also jointly fund a number of development projects outside the UK.
	No jointly-funded projects are currently planned for this year, with the exception of FCO development projects.

Iran

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what occasions and for what purpose he has visited Iran in the last two years; whom he met on each occasion; and what matters were discussed.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has visited Iran twice in the last two years. In June 2003, he met President Khatami; the Foreign Minister, Dr Kharrazi; and the Secretary General of the Supreme National Security Council, Dr Rouhani. The subjects discussed included UK/Iran bilateral issues, Iran's nuclear programme, terrorism and Iraq. In October 2003, my right hon. Friend visited Iran with his French and German colleagues to discuss Iran's nuclear programme. He again met President Khatami, Dr Kharrazi and Dr Rouhani.

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he (a) has made and (b) plans to make to the request by his Indian counterpart on 28 March that the nuclear weapons states party to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty agree to irreversible and verifiable cuts in their nuclear arsenals as a condition of India signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

Denis MacShane: The Government, including Ministers, have frequent contact with their Indian counterparts and are familiar with India's views on nuclear proliferation matters, including Natwar Singh's speech at the Conference on "Emerging Nuclear Proliferation Challenges" held in Delhi on 28 March. The Government were not represented at this conference and is not intending to make a response to Mr. Singh's speech. Mr. Singh's speech gives no indication that India is willing to become a State Party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which, by the terms of the treaty, they can only do as a non-nuclear weapon state.

Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who the members of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs are; and what the professional qualifications of each are.

Caroline Flint: A full list of members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, and their professions, is set out in the following table. However, it is very important to note that the members are appointed on an individual basis, and not as representatives of the organisations for which they work. The professional information supplied is for information only. All members are unpaid, although expenses are reimbursed.
	
		
			 Member Profession 
		
		
			 Professor Sir Michael Rawlins Professor of Pharmacology, University of Newcastle 
			 Dr. Dima Abdulrahim Briefing's Manager, National Treatment Agency 
			 Lord Victor Adebowale Chief Executive, Turning Point 
			 Mr. Martin Barnes(24) Chief Executive, Drugscope 
			 Dr. Margaret Birtwistle Specialist GP, Senior Tutor -Education and Training Unit, St. George's Hospital and Forensic Medical Examiner 
			 Reverend Martin Blakebrough Director, Kaleidoscope Drugs Project, Kingston upon Thames 
			 Dr. Cecilia Bottomley Doctor—Specialist Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology 
			 Ms Carmel Clancy Principal Lecturer (Mental Health and Addictions), Middlesex University 
			 Professor liana Crome Professor of Addiction Psychiatry, Keele University Medical Schools, Harplands Hospital 
			 Ms Robyn Doran Registered Mental Health Nurse and Service Director Substance Misuse CNWL Mental Health Trust 
			 Ms Dianne Draper(24) Public Health Policy Support Officer, Government Office for Yorkshire and Humberside 
			 Mr. Robert Eschle School Teacher and Magistrate 
			 Professor Hugh Edmondson Consultant Maxillo Facial Surgeon, Emeritus Professor 
			 Ms Vivienne Evans Chief Executive, ADFAM 
			 Professor C Robin Ganellin FRS Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry 
			 Dr. Clare Gerada(24) GP, London Practice and Primary Care lead for Drug Misuse and Chair at the Royal College of GPs. 
			 Dr. Laurence Gruer(25) Public Health Services for NHS Scotland 
			 Mr. Paul Hayes Chief Executive, National Treatment Agency 
			 Mr. Andrew Hayman ACPO 
			 Mr. Russell Hayton Clinical Nurse Specialist and Clinical and Services Governance Manager, Plymouth Drug and Alcohol Action Team 
			 Ms Caroline Healy(24) Health Adviser to Sure Start, London 
			 Dr. Matthew Hickman(24) Deputy Director, Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour, Senior Lecturer in Public Health 
			 Mr. Alan Hunter Director—Law Regulatory and Intellectual Property and Secretary to the Association of British Pharmaceutical 
			 Professor Leslie Iversen(24) Professor of Pharmacology, University of Oxford 
			 His Honour Judge Thomas Joseph Resident Judge, Croyden Crown Council 
			 Dr. John Marsden Research Psychologist, Institute of Psychiatry 
			 Mr. Peter Martin Chief Executive, Addaction 
			 Professor David Nutt Director of Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Bristol 
			 Dr. Richard Pates Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Director Community Addiction Unit, Cardiff. 
			 Mr. Trevor Pearce Acting Director General, National Crime Squad 
			 Mrs. Kay Roberts Coordinator Greater Glasgow Pharmacy Needle Exchange Scheme, Lead Pharmacist -Royal College of General Practitioners, National Drug Misuse Training Programme 
			 Dr. Roy Robertson(25) General Medical Practitioner, Edinburgh 
			 Dr. Mary Rowlands Consultant Psychiatrist in Substance Misuse 
			 Dr. Polly Taylor Veterinary Surgeon 
			 Ms Monique Tomlinson Freelance Consultant 
			 Mr. Arthur Wing(24) Assistant Chief Officer, Sussex Probation Area 
		
	
	(24) New member
	(25) Member whose appointment runs only to 31 December 2005

Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how members of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs are appointed.

Caroline Flint: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is a statutory and non-executive non-departmental public body, established by the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) 1971.
	Members of the ACMD, of whom there should be not less than 20, are appointed by the Secretary of State for a term of three years and in accordance with the guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Nominations come from a wide range of sources including relevant professional bodies, Public Appointments Unit of the Cabinet Office and self-nomination. Under the terms of the MDA 1971 the ACMD is required to include representatives of the practices of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy, the pharmaceutical industry, and chemistry (other than pharmaceutical chemistry); and members who have a wide and relevant experience of social problems connected with the misuse of drugs.
	Professor Sir Michael Rawlins was first appointed to the chair of the ACMD in October 1998 for a period of four years. His tenure was extended to a second term, which is due to expire in December 2005. Sir Michael is an effective and respected chairman. He is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Newcastle and chair of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
	Membership currently stands at 36, including the Chair. The ACMD has recently undergone a membership appointments process and the current term of office for members began on 1 January 2005. It will expire on 31 December 2007.

Anti-Semitism

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department has taken since publication of the Community Security Trust Anti-Semitic Incidents Report 2004 to combat anti-Semitism.

Fiona Mactaggart: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Anti-terrorism Legislation

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how frequently the Secretary of State or responsible Ministers have personally reviewed the certification of individuals detained under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; and on what date the case of "C" was last considered by the Secretary of State.

Charles Clarke: The individual cases of those certified under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, Part 4 powers were kept under regular review and I was kept fully informed of any developments in the individual cases.
	My last consideration of "C's" case was on 31 January, when following a meeting with the Security Service, I decided that his certificate should be revoked.
	In the case of "C" I revoked the certificate because there was a change in circumstance that related to his specific case. At the time of his certification under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA) in December 2001, he was a leading UK member of the proscribed Egyptian terrorist group, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (ElJ). Prior to his detention, "C" was active on behalf of the EIJ in Egypt, Ireland and the UK. "C" had an extensive network of associates among international terrorists in the UK and overseas. His contacts included prominent international terrorists from a range of organisations. However, although a number of "C's" associates remain at liberty, many have now been detained and/or their extremist activities have been disrupted. This has lessened the potential for "C" to re-engage in his previous activities to a degree that I believed it was no longer appropriate to maintain the certificate.

Anti-terrorism Legislation

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date he, or officials in his Department, started to review the case of prisoner "C", then being held in Woodhill Prison; what new information led him to decide to release prisoner "C"; and on what dates reviews of the cases of other prisoners being detained under anti-terrorist legislation in Belmarsh Prison, began.

Charles Clarke: The individual cases of those certified under the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, Part 4 powers were kept under regular review and I was kept fully informed of any developments in the individual cases.
	My last consideration of "C's" case was on 31 January, when following a meeting with the Security Service, I decided that his certificate should be revoked.
	In the case of "C" I revoked the certificate because there was a change in circumstances that related to his specific case.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter dated 18 November 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Carl Walker.

Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 14 December 2004 with regard to (i) Mr. S. Mohamed, (ii) Mr. S. U. Omar, (iii) Mrs. Faiza Saleh, (iv) Ms A. Khushi and (v) Dr. Roy;
	(2)  when he will reply to the letter dated 14 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. S. Mohamed;
	(3)  when he will reply to the letter dated 14 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Faiza Saleh;
	(4)  when he will reply to the letter dated 14 December from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms A.A. Khushi;
	(5)  when he will reply to the letter dated 14 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms. A Khushi;
	(6)  when he will reply to the letter dated 14 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms. A. Khushi;
	(7)  when he will reply to the letter dated 14 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms. Anney Guha Roy;
	(8)  when he will reply to the letter dated 14 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Sakariya Mohamed.

Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated (a) 10 November 2004 with regard to Ms Nabila Jahangir, (b) 9 December 2004 with regard to Mrs. Guy-Blackburn and (c) 6 December 2004 with regard to (i) Mr. Amos Bamba, (ii) Miss S. Rabbani and (iii) Alis Nicolae Bubric;
	(2)  when he will reply to the letter dated 19 October 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Nabila Jahanbir;
	(3)  when he will reply to the letter dated 19 October 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms Nabila Jahangir;
	(4)  when he will reply to the letter dated 9 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mrs. Guy-Blackburn;
	(5)  when he will reply to the letter dated 9 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Guy-Blackburn;
	(6)  when he will reply to the letter dated 6 December from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Alis Nicolae Bubric.

Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter dated 17 October 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms Pauline Clear.

Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to answer the letters from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton, with regard to (a) Mrs. J. Kaur, dated 16 February, (b) Mr. Malik Fernando, dated 10 February, (c) Mrs. Guy Blackburn, dated 9 December 2004 and (d) Mr. I. Alkenani, dated 27 January.

Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to answer the letter dated 1 March 2005 from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton with regard to Mr. P Nyonga.

Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Deportation

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were subject to deportation orders in each year since 1997, broken down by country of origin.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 4 April 2005
	Information on the total number of deportation orders made between 1997 and 2000 is shown in table 1. From 2001 this information is not available. Deportations are a specific subset of removals alongside persons subject to administrative removal or removal due to illegal entry action.
	
		Table 1: Deportation orders made
		
			  Deportation orders made(28) 
		
		
			 1997 1,220 
			 1998 1,020 
			 1999 660 
			 2000 760 
		
	
	(28) Data rounded to the nearest 5.
	A breakdown of those subject to deportation orders by country of origin is also not available; however table 2 shows a broad-nationality breakdown of persons removed as a result of deportation action from 1997 to 1999. Data from 2000 onwards are unavailable due to data quality issues.
	
		Table 2: Persons removed from the United Kingdom as a result of deportation action1,2 by nationality, 1997–99 -- United Kingdom
		
			  1997 1998(31) 1999(31) 
		
		
			 Europe (including EEA) 350 355 355 
			 Americas 290 295 335 
			 Africa 510 420 290 
			 Indian Sub-continent 240 185 130 
			 Other Asia 130 90 80 
			 Oceania 20 10 10 
			 Other nationalities * 5 5 
			 All nationalities 1.550 1,360 1,210 
		
	
	(29) Figures for years prior to 1999 exclude persons known to have departed "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
	(30) Figures rounded to the nearest 5, where * = 5 or fewer.
	(31) Nationality breakdowns are estimates.
	Information on the number of people deported from the UK in 2004 will be available from August on the Home Office's Research Development and Statistics website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Deportation

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people subject to deportation orders in each year since 1997 were successfully deported by the authorities.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 4 April 2005
	Information on the proportion of people subject to deportation orders who were successfully deported is not available, as persons who received deportation orders in a period are not necessarily deported in the same period. Data on the number of persons removed from the United Kingdom as a result of deportation action are shown in table 1.
	Deportations are a specific subset of removals alongside persons subject to administrative removal or removal due to illegal entry action.
	
		Table 1: Persons removed from the United Kingdom as a result of deportation action, 1997 to 2003 -- United Kingdom
		
			  1997 1998 1999(32) 2000(32) 2001(33) 2002(33) 2003(34) 
		
		
			 Persons removed4,5 2,070 1,730 1,210 1,280 450 415 — 
			 Of whom:
			 Principal asylum applicants(37) 460 350 140 145 85 100 — 
			 Of whom:
			 Non-asylum cases 1,620 1,380 1,075 1,140 365 315 — 
		
	
	(32) Deportation figures may be under-recorded in 1999 and 2000.
	(33) Figures for 2001 and 2002 have been estimated.
	(34) Data were not of sufficient quality for publication in 2003, however it is estimated that 480 persons were removed as a result of deportation action in this year. Due to poor data quality this is not an official statistic.
	(35) Figures rounded to the nearest 5.
	(36) Including persons known to have departed "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
	(37) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage. Excludes dependents of asylum seekers.
	Information on the number of people deported from the UK in 2004 will be available from August on the Home Office's Research Development and Statistics web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Dip Sampling Process

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what further safeguards have been built into the dip sampling process since 2003;
	(2)  how compliance with the "The Investigation of Historic/Institutional Child Abuse: The SIO handbook" is assessed;
	(3)  what role the Inter-agency Strategic Management Group has in historic sex abuse operations;
	(4)  if he will make a statement on the use of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales in historic sex abuse investigations;
	(5)  what discussions his Department has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers regarding the documentation and written recording of police interviews with complainants and other significant witnesses in historical sex abuse cases; and what the outcome was of those discussions;
	(6)  what research he has conducted into (a) SCAN and (b) other techniques for assessing the validity of statements for use in historical sex abuse cases;
	(7)  if he will make a statement on the advice provided by the Association of Chief Police Officers Investigative Interviewing Group to police forces on statement validity analysis techniques for use in historical sex abuse investigations;
	(8)  what changes have been made to the guidelines for investigations into historical sex abuse, to take account of the establishment of the National Centre for Policing Excellence.

Hazel Blears: The Government's Response to the Home Affairs Committee's Report published in April 2003 indicated that the Senior Investigations Handbook already included guidance that the Senior Investigating Officer in any individual case should always record, as a matter of routine, justification for using the dip sampling or investigation method for making initial approaches to former residents of care homes. This serves as a guide and is not mandatory therefore neither the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) nor Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) would make a routine assessment as to compliance therein.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers has established a multi-agency working group to review the SIO Handbook which was produced in 2002, the group includes officials form the Home Office. That review group has cognisance of all recommendations made by the Committee and in particular on-going concerns raised by my hon. Friend and will ensure amendments in line with police investigative policy. This will include adding further safeguards to the initial approach for evidence as considered by the group similarly for recordkeeping. I understand that the Chair of that group has now invited my hon. Friend to present her concerns to the group in person.
	It is not clear to which Inter-agency strategic management group my hon. Friend refers.
	The Home Department is not aware of the Gudjohnsson, SCAN or any other statement validity assessment tools for use in cases involving historical child abuse. The work of the ACPO SIO Manual review group is still in progress: it has not issued any guidance on the use of such tools in investigating complex cases of historical child abuse.

Detention Centres

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many places there were in each detention centre in each year since 1997; and what occupation rates were in each centre.

Des Browne: The number of spaces and occupancy rates, where applicable, on 31 December each year since 1997 for each removal centre are as follows:
	
		
			 Removal centre Spaces Detained 
		
		
			 Campsfield House   
			 1998 (38)— (38)— 
			 1999 184 182 
			 2000 184 176 
			 2001 184 166 
			 2002 184 158 
			 2003 184 120 
			 2004 184 130 
			
			 Colnbrook   
			 2004 296 220 
			
			 Dover   
			 2002 216 194 
			 2003 316 307 
			 2004 316 197 
			
			 Dungavel   
			 2001 148 30 
			 2002 148 65 
			 2003 148 84 
			 2004 192 82 
			
			 Harmondsworth   
			 2001 550 201 
			 2002 550 206 
			 2003 335 306 
			 2004 501 408 
			
			 Haslar   
			 1997 160 123 
			 1998 160 111 
			 1999 160 159 
			 2000 160 120 
			 2001 160 141 
			 2002 160 122 
			 2003 160 133 
			 2004 160 122 
			 Lindholme   
			 2000 112 111 
			 2001 112 99 
			 2002 112 95 
			 2003 112 95 
			 2004 112 88 
			
			 Oakington   
			 2000 360 270 
			 2001 360 256 
			 2002 360 49 
			 2003 360 165 
			 2004 360 192 
			
			 Tinsley House   
			 1996–2000 (39)— (39)— 
			 2001 146 143 
			 2002 146 87 
			 2003 146 110 
			 2004 146 113 
			
			 Yarl's Wood   
			 2001 (40)— (40)— 
			 2002 (41)— (41)— 
			 2003 60 57 
			 2004 120 112 
		
	
	(38) No longer held.
	(39) Currently unavailable.
	(40) Not available due to fire in February 2002.
	(41) Not available—centre closed.

Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of inmates in prisons in England and Wales were serving sentences for drug-related convictions in each year since 1975; and what the cost was of accommodating the inmates.

Paul Goggins: The population in prison establishments in England and Wales under an immediate custodial sentence for drug offences as a percentage of the total population under an immediate custodial sentence, in each year since 1976, is provided in the table. Information is not available for 1975.
	The Prison Service does not collect data relating to the costs of keeping prisoners in custody by offence type, nor does it retain information readily to hand on costs as far back as 1975. However the overall cost per prisoner for 2003–04 was £25,718 in public sector prisons and £25,377 in contracted out prisons.
	These figures exclude headquarters overheads, including the cost of capital on all Prison Service land and buildings plus the cost of depreciation on buildings.
	Information for Scotland and Northern Ireland would be a matter for my colleagues at the Scottish Executive and Northern Ireland Office.
	
		Population in prison establishments under an immediate custodial sentence England and Wales, 30 June
		
			  Population under immediate custodial sentence Population under immediate custodial sentence for drug offences Percentage of population under immediate custodial sentence who are drug offenders 
		
		
			 1976(42) 36,275 846 2.3 
			 1977(42) 35,815 863 2.4 
			 1978(42) 35,688 827 2.3 
			 1979 34,937 768 2.2 
			 1980 35,844 813 2.3 
			 1981 35,751 854 2.4 
			 1982 35,091 995 2.8 
			 1983 34,538 1,181 3.4 
			 1984 34,704 1,631 4.7 
			 1985 36,781 2,343 6.4 
			 1986 35,939 2,825 7.9 
			 1987 38,677 3,456 8.9 
			 1988 37,972 3,207 8.4 
			 1989 37,529 3,213 8.6 
			 1990 34,754 3,147 9.1 
			 1991 34,705 2,856 8.2 
			 1992 35,182 3,158 9.0 
			 1993 32,500 3,208 9.9 
			 1994 35,226 3,512 10.0 
			 1995 38,863 4,256 11.0 
			 1996 42,914 5,755 13.4 
			 1997 48,674 7,174 14.7 
			 1998 52,159 7,893 15.1 
			 1999 51,293 8,169 15.9 
			 2000 53,093 8,473 16.0 
			 2001 54,169 9,148 16.9 
			 2002 57,272 10,067 17.6 
			 2003 59,393 10,330 17.4 
			 2004 60,924 10,486 17.2 
		
	
	(42) Figures for 1976–1978 include fine defaulters

Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the most recent estimate his Department has made of the cost of the illegal drugs trade to the UK economy in a year.

Caroline Flint: Estimates of the costs of the illegal drugs trade are not available. However, a recent study published by the Home Office provides estimates of the total economic and social costs of Class A drug use in England and Wales and puts these in the range of £10.1 to £17.4 billion for the year 2000. Total economic costs, or reactive expenditure, is estimated to fall within a range of £2.9 billion to £5.3 billion in 2000.
	Note:
	The full report "The Economic and Social Costs of Class A Drug Use in England and Wales, 2000" is available in the Library or from the RDS website at the following address: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors249.pdf

Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug-related offences occurred in England and Wales in each of the past 10 years; and how many of these crimes were classified as (a) trafficking or dealing and (b) possession.

Hazel Blears: There are no figures available specifically on drug-related crime. The available information relates to recorded offences of trafficking and possession in England and Wales and is published in Table 2.04 of "Crime in England and Wales 2003/04", Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/04. A copy of this publication is available in the Library and it is also on the Home Office website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/crimeew0304.html.
	Information for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the respective Secretaries of State.

Firearm Offences

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded firearm offences there were (a) in Leicester and (b) in England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 21 March 2005
	Information for Leicester is not collected centrally. The available statistics for England and Wales are published in Table 2.03 of "Crime in England and Wales 2003–04: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime", Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/05. A copy of this publication is available in the Library and also on the Home Office website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hosbpubs1.html.

Gun Crime

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) gun crimes and (b) arrests relating to gun crime there were in (i) England and (ii) each police force area in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 24 March 2005
	The number of gun crimes recorded by police in England and Wales is shown in the table. The introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard nationally in April 2002 means that data for years before and after this date are not directly comparable. Information for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the respective Secretaries of State.
	Statistics on the number of arrests relating to gun crime in England and Wales are not collected centrally.
	
		Firearms offences (excluding air weapons) by police force area, 1997 to 2003–04
		
			 Police force area 1997(43) 1997–98 1998–99(44) 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02(45) 2002–03(46) 2003–04 
		
		
			 North East Region 
			 Cleveland 18 24 20 26 16 24 18 45 
			 Durham 17 22 13 40 18 19 16 15 
			 Northumbria 78 79 76 107 99 86 103 169 
			  
			 North West Region 
			 Cheshire 22 21 32 22 44 50 31 44 
			 Cumbria 8 6 11 5 13 9 13 11 
			 Greater Manchester 620 591 647 875 935 1,361 1,240 1,275 
			 Lancashire 71 67 50 78 59 103 66 58 
			 Merseyside 127 142 286 240 278 299 318 483 
			  
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 
			 Humberside 83 85 76 61 69 63 68 68 
			 North Yorkshire 28 22 11 8 9 28 18 23 
			 South Yorkshire 80 75 75 114 129 170 153 127 
			 West Yorkshire 162 156 193 191 335 332 333 269 
			  
			 East Midlands Region 
			 Derbyshire 69 62 52 65 72 58 73 75 
			 Leicestershire 48 51 98 71 58 74 174 141 
			 Lincolnshire 5 5 16 19 24 22 37 26 
			 Northamptonshire 40 46 54 48 40 55 107 123 
			 Nottinghamshire 120 132 112 173 157 204 264 233 
			  
			 West Midlands Region 
			 Staffordshire 36 26 23 53 108 116 131 108 
			 Warwickshire 20 22 20 14 39 53 62 102 
			 West Mercia 36 30 38 36 41 54 48 62 
			 West Midlands 428 432 407 664 816 1,289 1,101 1,138 
			  
			 East of England Region 
			 Bedfordshire 43 40 46 56 48 82 86 89 
			 Cambridgeshire 34 37 35 43 31 49 57 34 
			 Essex (47) 58 63 47 61 77 98 148 145 
			 Hertfordshire (47) 45 49 30 36 36 69 139 138 
			 Norfolk 20 22 34 24 20 26 36 33 
			 Suffolk 5 12 15 18 22 15 28 45 
			  
			 London Region 
			 City of London 2 1 1 4 5 5 3 3 
			 Metropolitan (47) 1,958 1,950 2,033 2,941 3,031 4,192 4,199 3,888 
			  
			 South East Region 
			 Hampshire 29 33 38 52 49 58 97 130 
			 Kent 100 113 76 109 108 60 64 65 
			 Surrey(47) 31 31 35 42 52 40 34 88 
			 Sussex 107 94 115 119 110 155 136 82 
			 Thames Valley 109 95 96 107 198 267 362 421 
			  
			 South West Region 
			 Avon and Somerset 55 65 71 103 100 131 119 123 
			 Devon and Cornwall 40 41 75 81 64 52 36 84 
			 Dorset 25 25 11 12 14 34 17 45 
			 Gloucestershire 23 24 22 21 23 89 92 108 
			 Wiltshire 19 17 19 10 13 26 60 53 
			  
			 Wales 
			 Dyfed Powys 13 13 16 13 26 26 17 37 
			 Gwent 19 19 26 19 11 18 52 74 
			 North Wales 19 25 27 10 6 6 18 11 
			 South Wales 34 38 31 52 67 56 74 47 
			 England 4,819 4,808 5,109 6,749 7,360 9,917 10,087 10,169 
			 Wales 85 95 100 94 110 106 161 169 
		
	
	(43) Information published for calendar years up to and including 1997 and financial years thereafter.
	(44) There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998.
	(45) Numbers of some recorded crimes may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002.
	(46) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced nationally on 1 April 2002. Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by this.
	(47) Forces affected by boundary changes in April 2000.

Justice and Home Affairs Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of the Justice and Home Affairs Council held on 24 February 2004; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: I represented the United Kingdom at the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels on 24 February 2005. Caroline Flint attended with me, along with Cathy Jamieson (Justice Minister) of the Scottish Executive.
	A list of "A" points adopted at the Council has been placed in the Library (Document 6588/05).
	The proposal for a council framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia was discussed. I intervened to say that there was no need for the decision specifically to include reference to racist symbols, as their use to incite racially motivated hatred and violence was already covered in the draft Framework Decision. The matter has been referred back to the Working Group, to be discussed again at the April JHA Council.
	On the proposal for a Council framework decision on the European Evidence Warrant for obtaining objects, documents and data for use in proceedings in criminal matters, the presidency sought agreement to the broad principles to be followed under the EEW in relation to dual criminality. In particular it was proposed that they should be similar to those pertaining to previous mutual recognition measures. This would include using a list of offences to which dual criminality would not apply based on the list in the European Evidence Warrant; excluding the idea of a "sunset clause", which would eventually have abolished dual criminality for all requests; and included a seriousness threshold of three years for offences. Cathy Jamieson noted the UK's support for the presidency approach and its opposition to an additional proposal to define more clearly some of the offences on the list, stating that this was inconsistent with the principle of mutual recognition and that it would create obstacles to co-operation.
	Over lunch I discussed with other Ministers of the Interior the appointment of a Director for Europol. I intervened to say that the UK's position had always been that the best candidate should be selected through a fair and transparent selection process. We therefore supported the recommendation of the Europol Management Board that the German candidate, Herr Ratzel was the best candidate. The Council agreed to his selection and I noted that, for this and similar posts, it was essential that the best candidate was selected on merit, rather than nationality and that selection of individuals and sites of agencies should be considered separately. I said that, during the UK presidency, I would initiate discussion in the Council to agree an approach these issues in future.
	There was a policy debate on the follow up to the Commission reports on the member states' transposition of instruments adopted on the basis of title VI of the TEU. Caroline Flint stressed that it was not enough simply to look at how measures had been transposed at a national level but to look at whether they were making a positive impact for citizens in practice.
	The presidency also agreed to take forward consideration of the reports on the European Arrest Warrant and Joint Investigation Teams by the end of June in light of the discussion.
	The Presidency asked member states to agree that CEPOL be given community financing and should apply ED staff regulations. The UK was able to support this approach as the firststage in establishing CEPOL and the presidency confirmed that the Working Group take work forward on that basis.
	On the Commission Green Paper on Economic Migration a first exchange of views took place. Member states responded positively and the issue will be on the agenda again at the April JHA Council.
	The Mixed Committee took place in the afternoon and Caroline Flint represented the UK. The Council agreed the proposal (as in document 6483/05 VISA 43) as regards the reciprocity mechanism. Council conclusions were agreed in principle on the inclusion of biometric data in visas and residence permits. Experts will be asked to continue to examine the technical issues and return to the Council in April.
	The proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between member states on short stay visas was tabled and draft Council Conclusions were circulated which received broad agreement. These will be passed to COREPER to be finalised.
	Under AOB the Commission presented its proposal for a regulation on local border traffic.
	Also tabled was a memorial report of the anniversary of the Madrid bombings presented by the Commission and dedicated to the victims of terrorism. The draft conclusions were adopted.

Licensing Act

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2005, Official Report, column 724W, on the Licensing Act, how many people in each (a) petty sessional division area and (b) police authority area have been (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted under (A) section 172, (B) section 172A and (C) section 173 of the Licensing Act 1964 in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Ministerial Travel

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) names and (b) functions of non-Government employees who have accompanied him on (i) rail journeys, (ii) plane journeys and (iii) journeys in his ministerial car since 1997.

Charles Clarke: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serving police officers have been (a) arrested and (b) convicted of crimes in each year since 1997 in (i) England, (ii) Essex and (iii) Southend.

Hazel Blears: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Police

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been employed in Hampshire in each of the past 10 years.

Hazel Blears: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Prisons

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison places have been (a) opened and (b) closed (i) temporarily and (ii) permanently in each year since 1997, broken down by prison.

Paul Goggins: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost of holding the detainees in HMP Belmarsh has been to date.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 17 March 2005
	The cost of keeping a Category "A" prisoner at a high security prison such as HMP Belmarsh is approximately £40,000 per annum. Taking account of time served on criminal charges, etc. we estimate that detention has cost approximately £1,300,000.

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the costs of keeping the Belmarsh detainees under supervision following release on conditional bail.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 17 March 2005
	The Home Office has prepared a Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Paragraphs 42 to 51 set out the estimated public sector costs. The regulatory Impact Assessment can be found at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/inside/legis/rias/rias. html_2005

Probation Service

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to accelerate the introduction of the purchaser/provider model for the Probation Service within the National Offender Management Service structure.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 15 December 2004
	It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities have (a) complied with their statutory duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, (b) published a race equality scheme and action plan and (c) carried out race impact assessments.

Fiona Mactaggart: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Serious Organised Crime Agency

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from (a) HM Customs and Excise and (b) the Inland Revenue in relation to the proposed establishment of the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Caroline Flint: Close negotiations are continuing with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise as to the funds and posts to be transferred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) from that Department, and to ensure effective links between SOCA and the establishment of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs on 1 April 2005.

Sikhs

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a Minister from his Department will attend the Sikh convention in 2005

Fiona Mactaggart: No invitation has been received to attend the Sikh Convention 2005. All invitations received by Ministers are considered on an individual basis, alongside other diary commitments.

Visa Applications

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the settlement visa of Mrs. Marcia Morroll of Galhampton, South Devon to be renewed; when her passport will be returned; and if he will make statement on the time scale for processing this application.

Des Browne: holding answer 6 April 2005
	It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time available before Prorogation.

Wild Cat (Sydenham)

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue instructions to the Metropolitan Police to ensure that in hunting for the wild cat near Sydenham, they use every effort to tranquilise and capture the animal and not to kill it.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 4 April 2005
	This is an operational matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. He tells me that that presently there is no active search taking place for "a wild cat" in Sydenham. Should officers encounter any animal which could be considered dangerous they will deal with it in an appropriate manner and in accordance with the Association of Chief Police Officers Manual of Guidance on the Police Use of Firearms.

Witnesses

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the existing requirements are for taping the statements of interviews of witnesses by the police which could later be submitted for review by the prosecution.

Paul Goggins: Guidance on interviewing vulnerable or intimidated witnesses, including consideration of video recording, is contained in "Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance for Vulnerable or Intimidated Witnesses, including Children". This guidance became operational in May 2002 when it superseded "Memorandum of Good Practice on Video Recorded Interviews with Child Witnesses for Criminal Proceedings".
	The Association of chief police officers also issues guidance including: "Guidance on the Recording of Interviews with Vulnerable and Significant (Key) Witnesses".

Neighbourhood Nursery (Crosby)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a neighbourhood nursery was attached to the Sure Start local programme opened in June 2004 in Crosby.

Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.
	The Sure Start local programme in Seaforth and Bootle was approved in 2001 to provide services to 700 children under four and their families in the wards of Church and Linacre. The Neighbourhood Nursery attached to this local programme, is located in the Linacre ward and opened in June 2004 delivering 62 additional child care places to families living in the area.
	The local programme delivers a range of services for families and parents within the area, including
	Outreach and home visiting; support for families and parents;
	Play, learn and child care facilities
	Primary and community health care.
	The combined expertise within the team members covers all aspect of health, education, parenting skills, practical and emotional support and social care from ante-natal stage to nursery education.
	Seaforth and Bootle local programme has established a mobile toy library and the early years workers provide practical support around early learning and play.
	The proportion of parents expressing no concerns about the extent of their children's language development increased from 77 per cent. in 2001–02 to 79 per cent. in 2003–04.
	The community midwife provides breast feeding support sessions at birth, six weeks and 17 weeks. The rate of take up of these sessions has gone up from 34.4 per cent. in 2002–03 to 37.9 per cent. in 2003–04 at birth; 8 per cent. to 13.9 per cent. at six weeks and 4 per cent. to 8.6 per cent. at 17 weeks.
	The number of women supported by post-natal depression group increased from 13 in 2002–03 to 30 women in 2003–04.
	The programme funding for the current and future years is as follows:
	
		
			  Programme name: Seaforth and Bootle (£) 
		
		
			 Capital  
			 Approved 825,211 
			   
			 Revenue  
			 2004–05 770,140 
			 2005–06 789,393 
			 2006–07 789,393 
		
	
	Sefton council have been allocated capital of £1,954,031 and revenue of £250,000 for 2004–05 and £323,432 for 2005–06, and are planning to open seven Children's centre by March 2006.